Christian Inroad into Moslem Nations
Dreams & Visions
Dr. John Hoole – Jun 14, 2015
As we listen to the news being reported each day, it seems to show the world coming apart. Yet there is a God in heaven who still cares about us, still sits on His throne, and has a plan. Down through Church history, there have been times of ebb and flow, and church historians have a word for these periods of revolution – REVIVALS. God moves, Jesus is lifted up, people repent, and cultures are transformed. Nations and continents have been shaken by the power of these fresh works of God, but today’s movement among the Muslims may be one of the most startling. It certainly has the potential to have a far-reaching impact. In a multitude of ways, God is revealing Himself to Muslims, not only among nominal Muslims but among imams and sheikhs.
Joel 2:28 NKJV
28 "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.
Earlier, I mentioned to you that in Africa, 25,000 people each day are coming to Christ. Let me add that of that 25,000, 16,000 are Muslims. That number is right from the lips of one African Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Al Qataani. And that is just one continent.
Over the last several weeks, we have been investigating the methods used to evangelize the gospel to those who live within nations that are predominantly Muslim. In actuality, there are three methods:
1. Air War – Radio and Satellite TV.
2. Ground War – Those are believers living inside these countries.
3. Spirit War – Dreams, visions, miracles.
We have covered in much detail the first two methods.
Dreams and Visions
The third way that God has chosen to communicate the message of the gospel to many Muslims is through an encounter with Jesus in dreams and visions. Islam all started with a dream in A.D. 610 with a man named Muhammad. His full name was Abu al-Passim Muhammad. Muhammad tells that when he retreated into a cave in Saudi Arabia to meditate, that he was visited by the angel Gabriel in a dream.
It is said that at first it was a disturbing experience causing depression until he had another such dream. The angel in the dream said, “O Muhammad, verily thou art in truth the prophet of Allah.” This revelation was the beginning of many revelations that birthed a religion – Islam.
Today, tens of thousands – maybe millions – of followers of Muhammad are having dreams and visions of their own. The experiences they encounter rock their world. While political revolution is erupting throughout the Middle East, tremors of spiritual change are also being felt on a widespread scale. These are occurring especially within countries hostile to Christianity. Thousands of stories are emerging from around the Islam world of those being awakened to the gospel literally because of their dreams.
Muslims who convert to Christianity become subject of persecution and possibly death. But believers who work among Muslims tell of life-changing conversions resulting from dreams. Like martyrs from antiquity until today, believers who have had profound encounters often develop profound, unshakeable faith. But, if converting to Christianity comes with such high stakes, what is it about these dreams and visions that compels Muslims to forsake their religion and embrace Jesus?
Who is “Isa al-Masih?”
Clearly, God can reach anyone, at any time, regardless of how strong his or her opposition is to His Son. Although Muslims are familiar with Jesus [Isa], they believe He is a prophet but not as Savior. Muslims do not believe Christ was crucified, nor do they accept Jesus to be the Son of God. Muslims also do not believe Jesus died for our sins. Neither do they accept Jesus being raised from the dead.
Let me relate the story of Omar. Omar had been locked up and tortured for years in a jail cell in a nation ruled by a dictator. One night a messenger visited him in a dream, telling him he would be set free. Within days he was released from prison and traveled to America. In America a number of newfound friends reached out to him. When he was given a book with a picture of Jesus on the cover, his eyes lit up and he said, “I know him. He came to me in a dream.”
Let me introduce Yasmin to you. Yasmin was fearful and anxious. She cried out to Allah, asking him to help her, but she remained unchanged. One night while visiting friends in the U.S., she was awakened from her darkness with an epiphany. As she walked around the house of her friend, she felt a huge load lifted from her. She learned later her sister – a Christian in her home country – was praying for her.
The idea of Jesus speaking to people in dreams and visions is not new. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible has many accounts of God using dreams, visions, a burning bush, an audible voice.
Here are just a few of many scores of person having a dream or vision mentioned in the book of Genesis..
• Musa (Arabic for Moses)
• Yaqub (Arabic for Jacob) [28:12, 31:10]
• Laban [31:24]
• Abimelech [20:3-7]
• Egypt’s Pharaoh [41:108]
• Pharaoh’s butler and baker [40:5]
And in other books in the Old Testament, you can find many more times God communicated to people through dreams and visions.
• Gideon [Judges 7]
• King Sulaiman (Arabic for Solomon) [1 Kings 3:5]
• The Midianite People [Judges 7:13]
• King Nebuchadnezzar [Daniel 2].
Let me take you to Karakul, a city in eastern Kyrgyzstan near the border of China. God revealed Himself through dreams to two Kyrgyz men, both Muslims. In the dream, an angel of the Lord told each man that in the month of May that year, a man would conduct some meetings in the football stadium. “Go and listen to the message he brings,” the angel said.
One of them, a young man, found out about a crusade that will be led by Reza Safa. The young man was hungry for God, and he accepted Jesus during the crusade. Today, he is a key helper in the church of that city. And his entire family has come to the Lord. The other young man also accepted Christ and joined the church that was started after the crusade.
Hundreds, maybe thousands of Islamic leaders – Imams, Mullahs and Sheikhs – are coming to the Lord. Jerry Trousdale, in his book, Miraculous Movements, writes:
“Of the former Muslim leaders who are now making disciples and planting churches, about 40% reported a dream or vision of Jesus that prompted them to begin a search to know more about Isa al Masih (Jesus the Messiah). And the remarkable thing is that all of those dreams were unique to them. Even if many of the dreams include similar themes, the context and message are always different and relevant to each person having the dream.
Could this be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s declaration in Isaiah 52:15?
“So shall He sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For what had not been told them they shall see,
And what they had not heard they shall consider.”
Message Bible (Latter half of the verse)
For what was unheard of they'll see with their own eyes, what was unthinkable they'll have right before them.
The book of Job has a wonderful passage of explanation about the way God uses visions and dreams.
Job 33:14-18 NKJV
14 For God may speak in one way, or in another, Yet man does not perceive it.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds,
16 Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction.
17 In order to turn man from his deed, And conceal pride from man,
18 He keeps back his soul from the Pit, And his life from perishing by the sword.
The Islamic faith is so engraved in the hearts and souls of the Muslim people that it often takes a supernatural manifestation of God to convince them about Christ.
One believer who had never met a Christian and had never known of the Bible, but he heard a "voice without a body" calling him to "find Jesus, find the gospel." The man was further led to a specific city where he was to ask for a man by name. The Holy Spirit led him to the door of one of the few believers among the millions.
Iran Alive Ministries, out of San Jose, California, which reports 50,000 Iranian Muslim conversions through its satellite TV ministry begun in 2002, report: “Almost 50% of those who call the office have had a dream about Jesus.” It seems that right now is a very special season of God’s grace among the Iranian people around the world.
Others, in various geographical areas have a different percentage being drawn by dreams and visions. Karel Sanders, a missionary in South Africa, reported “42% of the new believers come to Christ through visions, dreams, angelic appearances and hearing God’s voice.
Another missionary said “Muslim listeners often call to tell us about dreams and visions of Jesus, wanting to know what that means for them. The same is expressed in the book, “I Dared To Call Him Father.” This is a book by a wealthy former Muslim Pakistani woman named Bilquis Sheikh. She was drawn to Christ through a series of dreams, culminating with her salvation. Her husband had been a general in the Pakistani military, but, at the time of these dreams, he was Pakistan’s Minister of Interior.
In one of her dreams, she recounts, “I found myself having supper with a man I knew to be Jesus. He had come to visit me in my home and stayed for two days. He sat across the table from me and in peace and joy we ate dinner together.”
What is interesting to me is that every single convert who sees Jesus in a dream or a vision knows without a doubt that the One in the dream or vision was actually Jesus. In other words, they never confuse Him with Muhammad or one of their Imams or Allah.
Joel Rosenberg writes of two Christians driving through the mountains of Iran with a vehicle full of Bibles. Suddenly, their steering wheel jammed and they had to slam on the brakes to keep from driving off the side of the road.
When they looked up, they saw an old man knocking on their window and asking if they had the books. What books? They asked. “The books about Jesus,” the old man replied. He went on to explain that an angel recently came to him in a vision and told him about Jesus. Later he found out that everyone in his mountain village had had the same vision. They were all brand new followers of Jesus, but they didn’t know what to do next. Then the old man had a dream in which Jesus told him to go down the mountain and wait by the road for someone to bring books that would explain how to be a Christian. He obeyed, and suddenly two men with a car full of Bibles had come to a stop right in front of him.
I was reading the account of a former Islamic “Imam” or spiritual leader, who, for obvious reasons must remain unnamed. The account tells us that this former Imam has led 3,000 Moslems to Jesus. Because many of his converts begin their journey by seeing Jesus as a bright white figure, he has begun engaging people on the street with the question: “Have you seen a white man in your dreams recently?” If they have not, he tells them “I was just wondering. Thanks.” If they answer affirmatively, he continues by asking whether they are interested in learning who this man is. And who is not interest in the identity of a mysterious person in their dreams? Then the Ex-Imam shows them several Bible passages in which a white-clothed man is mentioned, explaining, “That is Jesus. He wants to speak with you, because He wants you to follow him.”
Some time ago, Bill Bright, former director of Campus Crusade for Christ, wrote that……
……“We are experiencing an amazing phenomenon. Moslems in particular are having dreams and visions confirming the reality of Christ. After one of our radio programs reported that Jesus had appeared to many Muslims in a dream and said to them ‘I am the way,’ the radio station received thousands of letters from Muslims in North Africa and the Middle East, in which the listeners said they had suddenly understood earlier dreams. They then wanted more information about Jesus”
In spite of intense religious persecution – indeed, at times because of it - Iranians are coming to the Lord in droves. God is touching the people of Iran, and they are being won to God through the simple sharing of friendship, as well as through miraculous dreams and visions, and because of satellite TV.
Dreams are NOT enough
Being a genuine disciple of Jesus has never been easy. For all of us, growth takes time and obstacles always seem to roll into the path. But the difficulty of the process and the cost for Muslims to covert to following Christ may never have been greater than it is today. They face hardship that rival any the persecuted church has endured through history. That is why dreams are not enough.
Even Christian who are skeptical of modern-day Christophanies must recognize the value other cultures place on dreams and the life-giving roll they play, because ultimately it is not the dreams themselves that lead people to Christ. It is other believers that are given that task. No one goes to sleep a Muslim and wakes up a Christian.
Nik Ripken, a 28-year veteran of the mission field, in his book, The Insanity of Obedience, points out: “We do not find that dreams and visions alone ever change anybody’s life. What it does, it seems, is to send them on a spiritual pilgrimage.” The personal appearances of Jesus in dreams and visions are incredible, but He still uses godly people to share the gospel that brings salvation. Dreams and visions break down barriers that keep Muslims from embracing Christ. Then it is up to us to get the gospel to them with a solid explanation and an offer to receive Jesus.
Although many Muslims report seeing angels or Jesus in dreams, those heavenly beings often direct dreamers to a specific person who then provides a Bible or explains whom the biblical Jesus is. But, as Craig Keener says in his book, Miracles: “Ultimately, it’s the gospel that converts people.”
For example, one man in a nation hostile to Christianity says he heard a voice telling him, “Find Jesus, find the gospel.” He didn’t know what Jesus was – a chair, a tree, an animal? But the voice told him exactly what city and house to go to, so he traveled for two weeks, arriving directly at the door of one of only three believers in the city.
Tom Doyle, in his book, Dreams and Visions, writes that he is often asked: “How do you know that these people truly became believers?” “My answer,” he says, is simple: “Because they are willing to die for Jesus.” I think that is a good litmus test, don’t you think? Doyle also adds, “I can assure people that the faith of Muslim-background believers is real is that they often bear very much spiritual fruit. They are passionate about their faith in Christ and influence others to follow Christ also.”
Closing
Behind the headlines of all the Middle Eastern wars and rumors of wars and revolutions and acts of terror, God is actually moving in an incredibly powerful way. People in the epicenter of activity are coming to Christ in record numbers. Millions in Iran – millions in Sudan – millions in Pakistan, millions in Egypt. And many more throughout the rest of the region are discovering the love of Christ.
Whatever world condition worries you the most, you can take heart that Jesus remains firmly in control. With these converts from Islam, their faith is fresh, and their passion will capture our hearts. And everywhere, they are bold and willing to die for Christ. Each of their stories is really His story. Jesus wants us to know what He is doing and to appreciate the power by which He still works today.
More Muslims are coming to faith in Jesus Christ today than ever before. Could it be that the real story about Muslims today is not global terrorism? Could it be the real story about Muslims is that Jesus is reaching out to them with His offer of eternal life earned by His death on the Cross and His resurrection from the dead?