According to a Pew Research Center estimate, there were 1.8 billion Muslims in the world in 2015, or roughly 24 percent of the global population. A January 2018 article in The Baptist Record reported that Muslims are the fastest growing religion in America. They are projected to pass the Jews in 2040.

Part of the reason for this is that Muslim men can have as many as five wives at a time. This is not a controversial issue to Muslims; it is just a fact. Another reason for their growth is their effective evangelistic campaign. To state the obvious, they are making converts at a rapid rate.

Most Muslims believe that Jews and Christians have changed the words of the Bible to suit their own prejudiced beliefs. They claim that the Bible is tahif, or corrupted. All Muslims would hail any Muslim leader who could liberate Jerusalem from Jewish hands and turn Israel into an Islamic state.

Just recently, the president of the United States caused shock waves throughout the Arab world by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and proposing to move the US embassy there. Today, militant Muslims refer to Israel as the “little Satan” and the United States as the “great Satan.”

Yitzak Rabin, a former prime minister in Israel, received the Nobel Peace Prize following the signing of the Oslo Accords. He launched a campaign to establish peace with Arab nations because he feared that these nations (Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon) would one day be gathered together under one leader, a gifted politician and military leader. Rabin realized that if these nations ever had access to the bomb, they would not be afraid to use it. Many Muslims feel that one day, they will have such a leader.

Islamic leaders in mosques are called imams. Those connected to the prophet Muhammad are called caliphs. The very conservative Muslim faith has a teaching concerning the caliphs. I mentioned earlier that when the two factions of Islam were formed, a small war erupted. Many caliphs died. It is rumored that the twelve-year-old son of the last Shiite imam was never killed. He escaped. He disappeared and was never found. It is the intrigue surrounding this missing Islamic prophet that has become a huge part of Islam’s spiritual teaching. It has become known among Shiite Muslims as the “doctrine of the twelve.” Those who hold to this teaching are known as the Ithna Ashariya, or Twelvers.

Conservative Muslims say that the graves of eleven caliphs are known, but the twelfth grave has never been found. These Muslims believe that Allah has protected the twelfth caliph for twelve hundred years. They think that one day, this caliph will return as a political and military genius and partner with Jesus Christ to conquer the world for Islam.

The Bible teaches that there is a man coming who will be a political and military genius above everyone who has ever lived. His single plan will be to conquer the world. He will be directly controlled by Satan, who will energize him for this purpose. In fact, he will be able to unite this Arab block to go against Israel. In the Bible, he is called the Beast (Revelation 13:1–8), the Antichrist (1 John 2:18), the Son of Perdition, the Man of Sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3), the Little Horn (Daniel 7:8, 20–27), the King of Fierce Countenance (Daniel 8:23–26), the Lawless One (2 Thessalonians 2:8–9),and the Willful King (Daniel 11:21).

Could the twefth imam, the coming Islamic savior, and the Antichrist be one and the same? That is an intriguing thought. I know that this is not the first time that this possibility has crossed the minds of evangelical Christians. It would be just like Satan to pull off this great “gotcha” to ensure the allegiance of millions of Muslims and help the Antichrist in his quest to destroy the Jews. It would also be just like the God we worship, who is involved in His great historical chess match with the evil one, to use this imam event to deceive the deceiver. Just a thought.

Does the truth of these divine antagonists have anything to do with those of us who are Christians? Amazingly, it does. There is not a wasted life on this planet. God brings every life into being for His divine purpose. He uses those who are not numbered among the elect to put the squeeze on those who are. The Holy Spirit uses these antagonists to encourage God’s sheep to run to the Shepherd.

God also uses unbelievers in every age to strengthen the faith of those who belong to Him. Every seed of Satan has a divine destiny, which Satan is totally unaware of. This evil angel is but a pawn in the hands of almighty God. His seed are all used in an amazing way to glorify the God who created him. This is awesome truth when one just sits and ponders it.

Daniel’s words come to mind. He was recording the words of a Babylonian king and speaking of our God:

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion and His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing and He does according to his will in the armies of heaven [the angelic realm] and among the inhabitants of the earth [the human realm]. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, What have you done? (Daniel 4:34–35)

What an amazing God we worship.