Tomorrow an estimated 120 million lambs will be sacrificed around the world for this the biggest of Muslim holidays called Aid el Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice.
Muslims believe that God commanded Abraham in Mecca to sacrifice his son Ishmael. God caused Abraham’s knife to turn sideways as he was about to slit his son’s throat and then gave him the new command to find a lamb to sacrifice. So every year the “mu’mineen” sacrifice one lamb per household at the cost of around $250-$300. This is not such a small sum for most families here but if they want to get into paradise they will be sure to comply.
The first day they’ll eat the stomach, intestines, and kidney for lunch and then the head (including the brain) for dinner! Yum yum! They don’t start on the meat until the second day so make sure you show up at your Muslim friend’s house Tuesday and not Monday (unless you like brain).
Today I went out on the streets as people scurried around to do last minute shopping and business before everything shuts down for about three or four days. I was able to share the Gospel with one 19 year old man on the bus who had never seen a Bible. Then a 50 year old taxi driver who had never before seen a Bible or heard of the story of the first sacrifice…the sacrifice of the lamb to cover the shame of the sin of Adam and Eve. Finally a 40ish year old lady at the car rental agency was surprised to hear that I had learned Arabic but was not “yet” a Muslim. She too had never seen a Bible. I wonder if you see a pattern? Is it any wonder that so many millions appear to be hard to the Gospel? Is it any wonder that the light of the Word of God is not yet exploding in this place? No one has even seen it or heard it’s message!