Did you know that there are reports of massive amounts of Muslims coming to Christ without even having heard the Gospel? Yes. The reports say that they dream of Jesus and then they come to Christ. The website 'More Than Dreams,' which has recorded some of these testimonies says, "For decades, a phenomenon has been recurring in the Muslim world. Men and women – without any knowledge of the Gospel and without any contact with Christians – have been forever transformed after experiencing dreams and visions of Jesus Christ." There are many websites saying this, not just one.
Let's take a look at these claims.
First, as in any attempt to discern God's truth from personal claim, we hold the bible up as the absolute barometer. The bible is truth and nothing outside the bible can be said to be truth with the same certainty. Second, keep in mind that these are the end times, a time when the bible says we would be exposed to tremendous amounts of deception (1 Timothy 4:1; Matthew 24:5; Acts 20:29 etc). Third, subjective human experience is always the worst judge of reality. Always.
So let's take a look at Muslims and dreams. In general terms, do they discount them? Accept them? What's the deal here? In his paper, "Dream Encounters in Christian and Islamic Societies and Its Implications for Christian Ministry and Mission," John K., Th.M. wrote
"In Islamic societies, the importance of dreams and visionary experience there has been continuous from the tradition of Muhammad up to the present (Hermansen 1997: 2) Islamic literature lists over five thousand references alone devoted to dream interpretation. No wonder dreams continue to be highly respected as a means of divine communication among folk Muslims. Among Muslims, dreams are thought to warn against impending danger, guide him to a saint, solve judicial problems or interfere with political decisions (Schimmel 1980:123). Many Hadiths also show Muhammads expertise at dream interpretation. Good dreams are attributed to Allah but bad ones to Satan (Parshall 1994:154)."
So from the earliest age, a Muslim adherent is taught to accept dreams.
He continues, "Jesus is always identified as a Muslim prophet and this must be constantly borne in mind, for he is after all, a figure molded in an Islamic environment. ... among folk Muslims, Sufis and certain African societies where dreams are considered superior to reality." Maybe that is why this 'Jesus" is coming to Muslims and not Hindi or Buddhists or Mormons or atheists or Wiccans.
To the Muslim, our true God Jesus is named Isa. But their Isa did not die for sins, was not resurrected, is not a deity, was taken to heaven alive by Allah, and is second in command to the 12th Imam, the final Mahdi who comes to take over the world to present it to Allah for his coming. In their end time eschatology found in the Koran, Isa recants his Christianity and forces all to become Muslim. If they do not, their heads are chopped off. It is written in their book, "By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the son of Maryam (`Isa) will shortly descend among you as a just ruler, and will break the cross, kill the pig and abolish the Jizyah." and also "And there is none of the People of the Scripture, but must believe in him, before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection, he will be a witness against them.)'' The Holy Quran, An-Nisa, 4:159So Isa will break the cross and kill the Christians (People of the Scripture.)
In many of these testimonies the Muslim says that it was Isa who came to tell them to repent. Jesus is Jesus and Isa is a false god created within a satanic false system. Just because they share the name does not mean they are the same. Because Jesus cannot lie, He would never identify Himself in any dream as Isa, a false god who recants His own death on the cross, breaks the cross, and kills his children! So any and all of those testimonies can be rejected immediately.
As for the rest, we look at the bible. Romans 1:18-20 says God revealed Himself in creation, so that all are without excuse. This verses mean that His omnipotence, creative power, and exercise of that power are obvious and evident. None who live on this planet will have an excuse to bear on judgment day. As Clarke's Commentary says, "The invisible things of him - His invisible perfections are manifested by his visible works, and may be apprehended by what he has made; ..."
Why would God use dream revelations when He has already made it clear that He exists through His work of creation, so much so, that all are without an excuse? He would not.
Next, the bible says that in these latter days God has spoken to us by His word, (Son). "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe." (Hebrews 1:1-2). Either you believe that or you do not. The Gospel of the holy bible is the only reliable barometer of truth, and yet many of these testimonies say that the Muslims are converting to Jesus worship 'without even having heard the Gospel.'
Matthew Henry Commentary says, "God spake to his ancient people at sundry times, through successive generations, and in divers manners, as he thought proper; sometimes by personal directions, sometimes by dreams, sometimes by visions, sometimes by Divine influences on the minds of the prophets. The gospel revelation is excellent above the former; in that it is a revelation which God has made by his Son."
Third, the bible says the canon is closed. It closed with Revelation 22:18-19. "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book."
There's nothing more to add, period. Personal visits, dreams, extra revelations are not going to happen, and further, if anyone adds to them by claiming to have had them, they will endure the fury of the Lord. With the close of Revelation, the canon is closed. The gift of prophecy in its new revelatory sense is ended, no more prophets will speak, no more apostles will write, no more words will come from from heaven, no more spiritual visions will be seen. Those who tamper with truth, falsify it, mitigate its message, to alter it or going to feel the vengeance of God. Claiming that 'Isa' came to them and spoke truths lands squarely here in this list with plagues risked being added to you.
Therefore we must ask, "This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11). The verse does not say, "and will come also to Muslims in dreams, and give a tour of heaven to Colton Burpo, and take Mary K. Baker to hell and back..." The canon is closed and personal revelations are ceased. One-on-one visits from Jesus are to be looked upon with skepticism.
Note also that the verse says 'this SAME Jesus." Why? Is there a different Jesus? Yes. We are told that there will be false Jesuses. "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many." (Mt 24:5). That verse seems tailor-made for the Muslim conversions.
A great many of the reporting agencies stating that the conversions are happening are in themselves false organizations. For example, one report is from Rick Love, formerly Director of the International Frontiers and now working with the Yale Reconciliation Project. The Yale project makes attempts to reconcile Muslims to Christians through their "common bond of their Abrahamic faiths." The writer of the paper I mentioned above called Dream Encounters in Christian and Islamic Societies and Its Implications for Christian Ministry and Mission is a " Christian Missionary Leader for Muslims." The paper appeared www.global missiology.org. He concluded his paper by proposing that evangelists are missing an opportunity by failing to connect through dreams with Wiccans, New Agers, Muslims, Native Americans etc who rely so heavily on dreams. He called for "anthropological studies combined with missiological strategies" to further investigate. Just because "missionaries" are reporting this phenomenon does not mean that the missionaries themselves have a true grasp of the Gospel or are even Christians.
Mormons have based their faith on dream and vision appearances from angel Moroni to Joseph Smith. "Smith claimed at the age of 15 to have had a personal visit from God, who introduced him to Christ. Jesus supposedly told him not to join any church because they were "all wrong ... all their creeds were an abomination in His sight, and that those professors (Christians) were all corrupt" (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith, 2:18-19)." Do we accept or reject Smith's dream, and if it is rejected, then why accept the Muslim dreams of Jesus appearing to them? And on what basis is one accepted and one rejected? You see the difficulty of sorting through validating this dream or that dream. Personal experience is no substitute for the bible.
Why do so many people accept personal testimony and not the word of God, especially when the testimony flies in the face of God's word? Why do we believe this method of conversion is true when the bible tells us that deception is rampant? At the end of days many will be deceived. Many will say to Jesus, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name and drive out demons and perform miracles?' And He will send them away because they never knew the real Jesus, this SAME Jesus.
I can't say that all conversion dreams are false and I can't say that all visits from Jesus are untrue. But I can point you to the bible and give you verses which tell us things, and give you thoughts to ponder in discernment. All this personal revelation has the unfortunate effect of pointing people away from Scripture. It teaches them to seek truth through subjective ways like in private conversation with God, prophecies, dreams, and visions. It denigrates God’s eternal, inspired Word and causes people to look beyond the Bible for more intimate forms of revelation from God. New revelation, dreams, and visions are considered as binding on the believer’s, and the hearer's, conscience as the book of Acts or the Gospel of Matthew.
Personal experience is always to be looked upon with suspicion, and the bible is always to be held in highest truth. Beyond that, please use caution these days in deciding what to believe when you hear 'Muslims are coming to Christ through dreams."
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