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Myths About Islam
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John Henry
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Oct 16, 2006 06:16 PDT
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10 Myths About Islam
- Myth #6
4th Edition
By Timothy W. Dunkin
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Myth #6
Mohammed was the Fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy
Many Muslims claim that Mohammed was
foretold in earlier Scriptures, i.e. the Bible, and thus Christians and
Jews ought to recognise that he was The Prophet of God. To substantiate
this claim, they point to several passages in the Old and New Testaments
which supposedly speak of Mohammed. In fact, this line of inquiry has a
very long yet not well-evolved record in the history of Muslim polemics
against Christianity. In many respects, the same claims which the Muslims
were making against the Byzantines in the 11th century are those which
are being used by Muslims in the 21st. Little innovation has been
introduced into most of these claims of prophetic foretelling for
Mohammed. This is not because of the great success which these Muslim
arguments have had with those who are knowledgeable of the Bible (indeed,
these arguments tend to serve better at bolstering Muslims in their own
beliefs than in changing anyone else's), but rather because of the
stagnancy introduced into Muslim polemics on this point. This stagnancy
is induced by the Muslim truism that the Bible (the Torah and the
Gospels) was altered by the Jews and Christians so as to deny the
"truths" of Islam which would otherwise still be found in these
texts. Thus, when the Muslims find verses in these Scriptures which their
more creative theologians can recast as evidential prophecies of
Mohammed, it becomes an article of faith that these
"prophecies" are still found (despite Jewish/Christian
tinkering) because of providential preservation on the part of Allah.
Upon examination, however, it is quite clear that Mohammed is not
discussed in these passages, and indeed, the Bible is silent about him. A
look at the actual context of these passages, both in the text and in the
historico-social settings, dispels the myth that these passages refer to
Mohammed. While any Christian who has spent a reasonable amount of time
studying the Bible is unlikely to be swayed by the arguments that
Mohammed is found in these passages, it may still be helpful to new
Christians to see the errors in the Muslim claims for these verses, and
can also be of benefit to all Christians who deal with Muslims in helping
us to systematically dispel and debunk these claims in the minds of the
Muslim friends and neighbours with whom we interact. As such, I present
the most common Old and New Testament verses which are abused by Muslim
polemicists.
The
Claims
Genesis 49:10
"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from
between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of
the people be."
Muslims claim that because "Judah" is a Hebrew name which
has its root in the verb "to praise", and because
"Mohammed" means "he is to be praised" in Arabic,
that this is a prophecy pointing to Mohammed. This interpretation has
several fundamental flaws. First, we should note again that the name
"Mohammed" does not really mean "praised one" but
"chosen one", and did not take on any apparent aspect as a
personal name in Arabic writings until well into the 8th century AD (Nevo
and Koren, Crossroads to Islam, p. 265). Before this, the term was
used as a titular description, a general term which was introduced into
the developing Arab monotheism as the need for a messianic/prophetic
figure arose.
Those Muslims who make the argument for this verse, however, miss the
fact that it is not Judah who is the object of this prophecy, but
the one called “Shiloh”. As such, the matter of what the names “Judah”
and “Mohammed” mean in their respective idioms is irrelevant. Shiloh is
not so much a name as it is a title or a term of description, one which
means “tranquil“, it comes from the Hebrew root word “shalah” which means
“tranquil or secure”. Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of this Messianic
title, He who even in the midst of the raging storm could simply say,
“Peace, be still” and cause the wind and waves to cease. He likewise bore
His burden of scourging, mockery, and crucifixion with remarkable
equanimity. This sort of tranquility and security cannot rightly be said
to apply to Mohammed, for whom Islamic traditions record a life
characterised by violence, bloodshed, revenge, and strife.
Further, the context of this passage clearly indicates that it was given
specifically to Israel’s son, Judah, who was the literal antecedent of
the tribe of Judah. As such, there is no contextual warrant for the
allegory which Muslims try to spin into this verse. This prophecy saw the
first part of its fulfillment some 600 years after it was given when
David, of the tribe of Judah, became king of Israel, thus receiving the
sceptre, a symbol of royal power and authority. Jesus was of the tribe of
Judah, and it is indeed to Him that the gathering of the people both was
(Matthew 4:25, Luke 5:17, John 6:2), and will be in the future
(Revelation 21:24). Mohammed, of course, was Arab, and not Jewish, and
could not have been of the tribe of Judah.
Deuteronomy 18:15,18
"The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the
midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him shall ye
hearken....I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like
unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto
them all that I shall command him."
Muslims claim that this passage refers to Mohammed, and support this
by pointing to certain copies of the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament)
which lack the phrase "from the midst of thee". Because of
this, they say, the "brethren" spoken of were Ishmaelites, who
would have been distantly related to the Hebrews by virtue of their
descent from Abraham through Ishmael. This explanation falls flat as
there is earlier Hebrew manuscript evidence which shows that "in the
midst of thee" DOES belong in the text, and thus the Prophet spoken
of was to arise from "in the midst" of the Hebrews, to whom
Moses was speaking.
Secondly, there is no conclusive evidence that Arabs, or at least most of
them, are even descended from Ishmael. We must keep in mind that the word
"Arab" is not so much a specific ethnic name, but rather a
description. It comes from a common Semitic root crb which has several
meanings; most prominent among them are the ideas of sterility (probably
relating to the desert wastes which these tribes inhabited), duskiness or
covering (i.e. to make something dark by covering it), and intermingling
(literally, intertwining or braiding). The Bible itself calls the notion
of Arabian descendent from Ishmael into question, and seems to suggest
for the Arabs a mixed background related to the latter of the meanings
for the root given above. In Jeremiah chapter 25, right in the middle of
a list of various nations which were to be judged by God, comes verse 24,
"And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled
people that dwell in the desert." Thus, we see that Arabia is
intimately connected with these mingled peoples, groups which had
intermarried to the point that their original origin could not be easily
determined. In addition, archaeological evidence suggests that the
descendents of Cush, a son of Ham, traveled across the Arabian peninsula
during their migration from Mesopotamia to the region of Ethiopia,
leaving genetic as well as artifactual remains across the whole region
1. The presence of names relating to Cush in
Mesopotamia ("Kish", a Sumerian city) and also all across
Arabia into Africa (the Egyptians referred to Ethiopia as
"Kesh", there is a region around the Red Sea in Arabia known as
"Khuzistan") also indicate this Cushite migration. Evidence
also links many tribes all over the Arabian peninsula to the sons of
Cush: Sebah, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, Sheba, Dedan, and Sabtecha
2. It is this author's studied determination that
after the Tower of Babel and the end of Nimrod's (the son of Cush)
rebellion, that the Cushites departed from their original dwelling place
in Sumer where Nimrod had built his empire, crossing Arabia and entering
into Eastern Africa, where they have dwelt to this day. Carleton Coon
notes several times the Negroid appearance in many ethnic stocks in
Southern and Western Arabia, evidence for the Cushite migration through
Arabia 3. As well, Moses' wife was a Midianite
described as an “Ethiopian” (Numbers 12:1), the Hebrew word here being
"Kuwsh", which further supports this contention as Midian was a
region in northern Arabia. Hence, it is highly unlikely that the Arabs of
Mecca, of whom Mohammed belonged, could have traced their lineage clearly
back to Ishmael. Many, if not most of them, would trace their ancestry
back in large part to the Hamitic line, while Ishmael was a Semite.
But, I digress. This prophecy clearly points to Jesus Christ. Faithful
men in Israel recognised Jesus as the fulfillment of this prophecy. Note
their testimony, "Then those men, when they had seen the miracle
that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come
into the world.....Many of the people therefore, when they heard this
saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet." (John 6:14, 7:40)
Further Jesus' actions and words demonstrated His fulfillment of this
prophecy and office of that Prophet. Just as the Prophet was to have the
words of God put into his mouth, so Jesus had this. "As my Father
hath taught me, I speak these things" (John 8:28) - "For I have
not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave me a
commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak." (John
12:49) Christ Himself bore testimony to having the words of God from the
Father, and following the Father's commands to speak them. And indeed,
the Lord also had God the Father's testimony that the people should
hearken unto Him. During His transfiguration, the Father spoke from
heaven, "This is my beloved Son, hear him." (Mark 9:7) Christ,
from the tribe of Judah, was a Jew, raised up from the midst of His
brethren. Hence, Jesus Christ was the complete fulfillment of Moses'
prophecy in Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 33:2
“And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto
them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of
saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.”
The Muslim attempt to eisegete Mohammed into the Bible with this
verse is one of the more, well, interesting examples we may give. Muslim
apologists will often point to this verse, claiming that it is a prophecy
about Mohammed. The basis of this belief is their claim that “Paran” is a
reference to Mecca, and because there are certain Muslim traditions which
depict Mohammed as capturing Mecca with 10,000 Muslim followers, this
verse is a prediction of that event.
To begin dealing with this claim, the postulation that Paran can be
equated with Mecca must first be examined. Pretty much the sole basis for
the identification of Paran with Mecca stems from an incidental comment
made by a medieval Muslim geographer named Yaqut al-Hamawi. In the
geographical work which he finished around 1225 AD, he wrote,
“Faaraan: After the alif there is a raa' and it ends in a nun. An
Arabicized Hebrew word. It is one of the names for Mekkah mentioned in
the Torah. It has been said that it is a name for the mountains of
Mekkah. Ibn Makulan Abu Bakr Nasr Ibn al-Qaasim Ibn Qudaa`ah al-Qudaa`i
al-Faaraani al-Iskandari said "I have heard it is a reference to the
mountains of Faaraan, that is to say, the mountains of the Hijaaz. In the
Torah God came from Sinaa' and dawned from Saa`iir and became known from
Faaraan"; they are the mountains of Filastiin, and it is His sending
down of the Injiil upon Isa, peace be upon him, and His revealing from
Mount Faaraan the fact of His sending down the Qur'an upon Muhammad,
peace be upon him. It is said Faaraan is the mountain of Mekkah; Faaraan
is also a village in the region of Sughd, one of the provinces of
Samarqand, to whom Abu Mansuur Muhammad Ibn Bakr Ibn Isma`iil
al-Samarqandi al-Faaraani traces his origins. This was transmitted from
Muhammad Ibn al-Fadl al-Larmaani and Nasr Ibn Ahmad al-Kindi the Qur'anic
scholar, from whom Abu al-Hasan Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad
al-Kaaghidhi al-Samarqandi transmitted. Abu Abd Allah al-Qudaa`i said,
"Faaraan and al-Tur are two districts in southern
Egypt."4
It is upon the basis of Yaqut’s testimony that Muslims trumpet this
identification and the subsequent apologetic claim. Now, it should be
apparent to the discerning reader that there are several problems with
relying on the above to try to nail down something as important as a
prophecy. Yaqut’s sole source is based upon the hearsay of one man, who
says that “the mountains of Faran” (Paran)5 was a name
for the mountains around Mecca. No explanation is given as to where this
identification came from, or why one would not logically place Paran in
the Sinai peninsula, where both Mts. Sinai and Seir also exist. As such,
his statement is hearsay, and little fit to be evidence for overturning
the uniform consensus which geographers and scholars have held for
centuries. Further, Yaqut notes that this name is “an Arabicised Hebrew
word”. The obvious question is, “Why would Arabs located over 1000 km
from Palestine refer to mountains in their heartland with Hebrew
names?" One would logically presume that there would be no need to
“Arabicise” names for landmarks existing right in the middle of the
indigenous Arabian civilisation.
Other problems exist as well. Mecca is, of course, a city, not a
mountain, and is actually located in a valley. Deuteronomy 33:2
explicitly states that the LORD is coming from mount Paran, indicating a
single peak, not a chain or group of mountains. Yaqut himself identifies
Paran as a group of mountains, which does not correlate with the Paran
mentioned in the Bible. Further, Yaqut’s exposition is self-contradictory
in that he identifies all three of these mountains (Sinai, Seir, and
Paran) as “mountains of Filastiin” (Palestine), which again, seems to
cast doubt upon his concurrent claim that Paran is Mecca. As such, the
statement of Yaqut, which Muslim apologism has rested upon for well-nigh
eight centuries, is a very weak foundation upon which to try to construct
a Biblical prophecy about Mohammed.
Yaqut’s testimony is further weakened in that either he or his source
seems to be the originator of the “Mecca=Paran” equation. Evidence from
another much more well-known and well-traveled Muslim geographer
contradicts Yaqut’s testimony, indicating that before Yaqut, the
identification of Paran with Mecca was not known. Abu Abdallah Muhammad
Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abdallah Ibn Idris al-Qurtubi al-Hasani, hereafter known
as Al-Idrisi, produced a much more systematic and in-depth geography of
the Muslim world of his time, this one written around 1154 AD (or roughly
70 years before Yaqut). In it, he speaks also of Paran, which he refers
to as “Faran Ahrun“ (Paran of Aaron)
"This district lies 40 miles from Al Kulzum, and along the sea
coast. The city of Faran stands at the bottom of a gulf. It is a small
town where certain of the Arabs have their camping ground. Over against
Faran is a place where the sea has formed a bay, and beside it is a
mountain of very hard rock. The waters surge round this and encircle it,
and when the winds rise, the passage thereof is difficult, and no one can
accomplish it, except with great effort. Travelers are frequently lost
there, unless Allah save and guard them. According to the common saying,
this is the sea wherein Pharaoh - Allah curse him! - was drowned."
6
Al-Idrisi’s identification seems little plausible if one tries to
apply it to Mecca. He states that Paran stands at the bottom of a gulf,
and indicates that the sea forms a bay next to the city. Mecca is around
80 km inland from the Red Sea, and thus would have no bay next to it. He
further states that it is a “small town” where “the Arabs have their
camping ground”. At the time of his writing, Mecca was certainly not a
small town, and certainly would not have been referred to as a “camping
ground” by a Muslim! Further, Al-Idrisi positively nails down the
location of Paran in the Sinai peninsula. He comments that the common
saying was that the sea on which Paran sat was the sea where Pharaoh was
drowned during the attempt to recover his Israelite slaves during the
Exodus. Tradition in all three groups, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian, has
been that this event occurred in the Gulf of Suez, which is the western
finger of the Red Sea that forms a “V” around the Sinai peninsula. Thus,
in his mind as well as the minds of his readers at the time, his
reference would definitely be to a town on the bank of the Gulf of Suez.
Further, he states precisely that Paran was 40 miles (in modern distance
units, of course) from Al-Kulzum. Kulzum was an ancient town on the Gulf
of Suez that served sometime as a fortress for controlling the canals in
the region. Kulzum finds mention in the “Thousand and One Arabian Nights”
stories, where it serves as the castle and capital for the Blue King, a
king of the Jinn. A more serious identification is made by Burton in his
translation and commentary on that literary work, however,
“The old name of Suez-town from the Greek Clysma (the shutting),
which named the Gulf of Suez "Sea of Kulzum." The ruins in the
shape of a huge mound, upon which S 'id Pasha built a Kiosk-palace, lie
to the north of the modern town and have been noticed by me. (Pilgrimage,
Midian, etc.) The Rev. Prof. Sayce examined the mound and from the Roman
remains found in it determined it to be a fort guarding the old mouth of
the Old Egyptian Sweet-water Canal which then debouched near the
town.”7
None of this is located even remotely near to Mecca or the Hijaz,
but all are located in the Sinai peninsula. The identifying information
seems to conclusively identify a site located at or near the headwaters
of the Suez finger of the Gulf.
Further, internal evidence from the Bible itself firmly places Paran in
the Sinai peninsula. Paran is mentioned on a handful of occasions in the
Old Testament, most of which are inconclusive for giving a positive
location, but a few of which prove very informative. In I Kings 11:15-18,
we see a parenthetical aside detailing the escape of an Edomite royal
heir named Hadad to Egypt during the time when David and Joab killed the
males of Edom in a campaign. They fled to Egypt for protection with the
Pharaoh, and their route is said in this passage to have been from Midian
(a region south of Israel around the headwaters of the Gulf of Aqaba, the
other finger of the Red Sea) to Paran, and then on to Egypt. Now, it
would seem to make little sense for them to flee from Midian to a place
1000 km south, then return by the same route8 so as to
go to Egypt. However, the placement of Paran near the headwater of the
Gulf of Suez would make perfect sense for this passage.
The other passage of interest is Genesis 21:21, which describes the
circumstance of Ishmael after he and his mother Hagar were expelled from
Abraham’s household. This verse states that he dwelt in the wilderness of
Paran, and that his mother took for him a wife from the women of Egypt.
This gives additional evidence for placing Paran in Sinai over towards
Egypt. As Hagar herself was Egyptian, it would seem natural that after
her expulsion, she would return to the people of her nativity, and thus
would approach Egypt. That she took a wife for Ishmael from the Egyptians
also suggests proximity to Egypt, as she (being an expelled slave woman)
would not have had the resources to send for a woman in a land over 1200
km away, which the populated parts of Egypt would have been from Mecca.
As such, the biblical testimony which touches on the location of Paran
also contradicts the attempt to locate Paran at Mecca.
Lastly, even without the details of locations, it should be understood
that the Muslim apologetic attempt to cast Deuteronomy 33:2 as a prophecy
about Mohammed simply makes no sense, either logically or theologically.
To begin, the passage is not even uttered in any sort of prophetic way.
In fact, it is given in the past tense, it is detailed by Moses as an
event which had already occurred. Further, the verse explicitly states
that it is the LORD who came from mount Paran. In the Hebrew, this is
referring to YHWH, making this a direct reference to God Himself coming
down from mount Paran in a picture of anthropomorphy. Unless Muslims wish
to equate Mohammed WITH God, then they cannot read this text naturally
and still try to find Mohammed in it.
Psalm 45:3-5
"Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory
and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth
and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee
terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's
enemies; whereby the people fall under thee."
It is claimed that this applies to Mohammed because of his supposed
status as a prophet, and because of his conquests. In fact, Mohammed is
often known in Islam as "The Prophet of the Sword". However, as
we see, this passage stipulates that the individual mentioned was to ride
prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness. It has been
shown above that Mohammed (at least as he is presented in the traditions)
was certainly NOT a righteous man, and that he was not the bearer of
truth, as the flawed Qur'an which is attributed to his intermediacy
indicates. Mohammed was also not meek before God, meekness being the
quality of being submitted to God and serving Him faithfully. Mohammed
violated numerous of God's laws (repeatedly), lived in sin, and never put
his faith and trust in Jesus Christ as his Saviour, which is God's
command to us ("..repent ye, and believe the gospel." - Mark
1:15)
Further, when these passages are taken in context, we see these passages
referring to God as Jesus Christ. Psalm 45:6 says, "Thy throne, O
God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right
sceptre." This reference to God in v. 6 follows immediately after
the text above, and is contextually addressing the conquering hero of vv.
3-5. No Muslim would claim that Mohammed was God, as this would be
blasphemy to them. Hence, when taken in context, this passage fails as an
attempt to put Mohammed in the Bible.
It DOES, however, indicate the Lord Jesus Christ. This is clearly shown
in Hebrews 1:8, "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is
for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy
kingdom." This passage quotes Psalm 45:6 and applies it to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And indeed, Jesus will return to earth one day with His
sword and shall destroy wickedness and will establish His reign and carry
out His judgment, being called "THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF
LORDS" (Revelation 19:11-16). All authority is given to Christ for
judgment. "And hath given him authority to execute judgment also,
because he is the Son of man." (John 5:27) All the nations will be
gathered unto Him, and on the last day, even Mohammed will bow down
before the Lord Jesus Christ and acknowledge that He is the Lord! (cf.
Philippians 2:11)
Isaiah 21:7
"And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of
asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much
heed."
Muslims will contend that this is a prophecy referring to the coming
of both Jesus Christ and Mohammed, with Mohammed coming after and
therefore bringing a fuller revelation from God. They say this, positing
that the chariot of asses refers to Christ's entering Jerusalem on the
back of a young colt, and the chariot of camels refers to Mohammed
because he always rode a camel.
However, looking at the context of this verse, one sees that it is not a
prophecy relating to the coming of anyone. It is part of a vision
relating the destruction of Babylon by the Persian empire. The chariot of
asses and camels (note, the surrounding context indicates that only one
chariot is present, not two) is carrying messengers who spread the word
about the fall of Babylon, as indicated in verse 9 of the same chapter,
"And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of
horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all
the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground." Note
that verse 9 indicates that a chariot (singular) brought the news, not
two separate chariots, one drawn by donkeys and one by camels. This verse
is a classic example of the Muslim ploy of taking Biblical verses
completely out of context to make claims that the Bible supports their
theology, when in fact the Bible does not say anything even near what
they are claiming.
Matthew 3:2
"...Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand."
Muslims will often claim that this call to repentance made by John
the Baptist was indicative of the coming "kingdom of heaven",
by which they mean the establishment of the power of Islam, with the
Qur'an as the Law of the kingdom. Note though that John said that the
kingdom of heaven was "at hand", a term which indicates
immediacy, which would not seem to be rightly applied to an event reputed
to have occurred over six centuries later. Further, the words of Christ
Himself clearly indicate that the kingdom of heaven was already present
long before Mohammed was ever born.
Jesus said, "But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the
kingdom of God is come unto you." (Matthew 12:28) Christ cast out
many devils during the course of His earthly ministry, and did so in the
power of the Holy Spirit, with whom He was anointed (John 1:32-34, Luke
3:21-22, Mark 1:10, Matthew 3:16). The Qur'an even acknowledges the
presence of the Holy Spirit in Christ. "We gave Moses the Book and
followed him up with a succession of messengers; We gave Jesus the son of
Mary clear signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit." (Surah
2:87) Hence, Christ's clear testimony in Matthew 12:28 indicates that the
kingdom of heaven WAS already come by the time He had spoken His words,
long before the coming of Mohammed and Islam.
Likewise, in Mark 9:1, Christ told His disciples, "Verily I say unto
you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of
death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power." This
prediction was then fulfilled by the witnessing of the vision of the
transfiguration of Christ, who appeared to them with Moses and Elijah in
the glorified state. They were translated in this vision to see the glory
of the future coming permanent kingdom of God.
Hence, we see that neither the temporal nor the spiritual aspects of the
kingdom of God can be in any way related to Mohammed or Islam. The
temporal aspects, the power of Christ residing with and in believers on
earth, had already come nearly 600 years before Mohammed. The future
permanent kingdom in all its infinite glory with believers in their
glorified, purified, heavenly bodies, of course, in no wise resembles
anything on earth, Islamised or otherwise.
Mark 1:7
"And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after
me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and
unloose."
Muslims will argue that these words are the words of Christ,
referring to the coming of Mohammed. Of course, a simple reading of this
verse quite clearly indicates that these words were spoken John the
Baptist, as John is described in the verse immediately prior to this
passage. Similarly, the parallel passages John 1:15, Matthew 3:1-12, and
Luke 3:16 all clearly demonstrate this without a doubt. Additionally,
John himself makes it clear that the Lord Jesus was to whom he was
referring, as he testifies in John 1:29-30, "The next day John seeth
Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a
man which was preferred before me: for he was before me."
Muslims also try to claim that this passage, then, could still not refer
to Christ since Jesus was already in the world. However, John was
speaking of Christ coming after him in ministry. As the Gospels bear
record, the Lord did not begin His preaching ministry until after John
the Baptist had been put in prison, and was not engaged in his own
preaching ministry any more (Mark 1:14, Matthew 4:12-17). Thus, the words
of John the Baptist quite clear indicate the Lord Jesus Christ (of whom
he also said "He must increase, but I must decrease" - John
3:30), not Mohammed.
John 4:21
"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when
ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the
Father."
In this verse, Muslims suppose that Christ was declaring that
prayers would no longer be made toward Jerusalem, but instead toward
Mecca, and that this foretold the coming of the Muslim religion. However,
as Christ listed no place to which worship would be directed (and in
fact, seems to eschew the whole idea of worship towards any geographic
point), the claim that He is referring to Mecca is spurious, supposition
based entirely on the Muslim desire for this to be so, rather than on any
actual evidence from the text.
In fact, the whole point of this passage in the Bible is that Jesus was
telling this woman that true worship would not ritualistically depend on
a geographical focus of prayer and worship (as it partly had in the Old
Testament, see Daniel 6:10). Instead, with the coming of Christ and the
kingdom of God, worship would be true worship when it was done with a
right heart and reverence for God, regardless of the location. In verse
23-24 of the same chapter, Christ continued speaking to the woman and
said, "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh
such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth." Christ said, "and now
is". He had already abolished what Muslims call qiblah, the focus of
prayers. Hence, He certainly did not allude to Mecca becoming qiblah, but
abolished the whole notion outright.
Indeed, we must understand that Mecca was not even the original point for
qiblah, as has been shown from archaeology and early contemporary source
documents. Mosques built in a variety of places from the first two
centuries of the Muslim era show qiblah which do not face toward Mecca.
Creswell investigated early mosques in Iraq at Wassit and Baghdad which
were built during the Umayyad dynasty (661-750 AD). Both of these were
oriented such that the direction for prayer was pointed too far north for
the object of their qiblah to have been Mecca9. The
mosque at Wassit faced 33 too far north, and the one at Baghdad 30 .
Instead of facing towards Mecca, these mosques appear to face towards
Jerusalem. Even early Muslim writers note that there was apparently some
confusion as to the direction in which the mosque should point for
prayers. Al-Baladhuri records the tradition that the first mosque built
in Kufa, a city in Iraq, faced west (whereas a qiblah towards Mecca would
face almost due south)10. Al-Maqrizi, likewise,
reported in the traditions that Amir ibn al-Ass, the first Arab governour
of Egypt, prayed in a mosque facing slightly south of east, which again
would not be in the direction of Mecca11. Creswell
notes that this mosque of al-Ass, which pointed to a location too far
north, was later rebuilt during the governourship of Qurra b.
Sharik12. Cook and Crone also show that the earliest
evidences from tangible sources shows that the sanctuary to which the
very early Muslims prayed was too far north to be located in the
Hijaz13. Again, these evidences indicate a general
direction of qiblah towards Jerusalem. The orientation of Egyptian
mosques was recorded by the Syriac patristic writer Jacob of Edessa (d.
708 AD) as facing east towards the "Kaabah" of the
"Mahgraye"14, even though Mecca would be
southeast from Egypt. Thus, at least at the beginning of the 8th century,
the Muslim sanctuary to which prayer was directed seems to have been
Jerusalem, or some point in that locale, not Mecca. Only later, with the
added pressure to specifically "Arabicise" the emergent
religion and free it from some of its more overtly Jewish trappings, was
the sanctuary of the Muslims shifted to Mecca, which was previously a
pre-Islamic pagan centre of worship which was retrofitted to serve as the
centre of Muslim devotion. Hawting notes that no mosques from the 7th
century have been found which point towards Mecca, and he further
concludes,
"It seems that the Muslim sanctuary at Mecca is the result of a
sort of compromise between a preexisting pagan sanctuary and sanctuary
ideas which had developed first in a Jewish milieu. I envisage that
Muslim sanctuary ideas originated first in the Jewish matrix, as did
Islam itself. At a certain stage in the development of the new religion
the need arose to assert its independence, and one of the most obvious
ways in which this could be done was by establishing a specifically
Muslim sanctuary. The choice of sanctuary would have been governed by
already existing sanctuary ideas and when a suitable sanctuary was fixed
upon these sanctuary ideas would themselves have been modified to take
account of the facts of the sanctuary which had been chosen. It seems
likely that the Meccan sanctuary was chosen only after the elimination of
other possibilities - that in the early Islamic period a number of
possible sanctuary sites gained adherents until finally Mecca became
established as the Muslim sanctuary. And it also seems likely that one
reason for the adoption of the Meccan sanctuary was that it did
approximate to the sanctuary ideas which had already been formed -
although they had to be reformulated, the physical facts of the Meccan
sanctuary did not mean that already existing notions and terminology had
to be abandoned."15
Thus, at some point after the first decade of the 8th century, the
qiblah seems to have been changed to a specifically Arab sanctuary in
Mecca, which originally had been a reputed important sanctuary to Hubal.
This change in the direction of prayer is recorded in the Qur'an in Surah
2:144, which suggests that this particular ayah was incorporated into the
surah at some point later than ~708 AD, after the death of Jacob of
Edessa.
The essential point to be gathered from all this, however, is that Jesus
Christ certainly was not telling this woman that the direction of prayer
would be turned to a sanctuary in the Hijaz. Rather, He was emphasising
to her to spiritual and personal nature of true religion, that it was not
an act centred upon a geographic locale, but upon heartfelt desire to
worship God regardless of location. Mecca is no more important of a city
now than Jerusalem, or New York, or London, or even Nome, Alaska, for
that matter. For one to be worshipping God in truth means to worship with
a heart desiring to please Him, which is attentive to His commands, and
which seeks to do what His Word, the Bible, says. Without reverence for
God and the Bible, true worship is an impossibility.
John 14:16-17, 26
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another
Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth;
whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth
him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.....But the Comforter,
which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you."
Muslims contend that in this passage, the Greek parakleton
translated as "Comforter", refers to the coming of Mohammed,
who fulfilled this when he received the Qur'an from the angel Gabriel,
whom Muslims believe is the Holy Spirit.
Several problems arise with this interpretation, however. First, the
Comforter is clearly said to be the Holy Ghost. Even with Islam's belief
that Gabriel is the Holy Spirit, this wouldn't indicate Mohammed. Second,
the Holy Ghost is sent in Christ's name, which Mohammed certainly did not
fulfill. Instead, Mohammed came rejecting Christ and His teachings.
Mohammed disbelieved that the Lord Jesus Christ is God Incarnate and that
He died for our sins and rose again. Because of his disbelief, Mohammed
cannot be said to have been sent in Christ's name, in other words, in
Christ's express reputation and testimony as the Son of God. Third, the
Comforter is said to dwell not only with us, but IN us. This certainly
does not apply to Mohammed, who is not only dead (and therefore not WITH
us anymore), but also was a physical being incapable of living IN us. The
Holy Spirit, the third member of the triune Godhead, is God's very Spirit
who dwells within saved, born-again Christian believers. The Holy Spirit
seals all true believers at the moment they accept Christ as their
Saviour (Ephesians 1:13) and serves, among other things, as their comfort
and assurance of salvation until the final redemption at the Lord's
return (Ephesians 1:14, 4:30). Fourth, Mohammed did not "bring all
things to our remembrance" which Christ had taught, but instead
rejected much of the teachings of Christ with which he did not agree.
Thus, Mohammed fails to fit this qualification, too.
The work parakleton is a Greek word meaning "helper, comforter,
sustainer, advocate". Mohammed certainly did not fit this
description. Mohammed sought to destroy those who opposed him,
contradicting the notion that he was a helper or sustainer. The Holy
Ghost, contrastingly, seeks to call unto Christ all men, working in their
hearts, convicting them of sin, and turning them to faith in God (John
16:8-11). The Holy Ghost truly does help and seek to sustain and comfort
men. Mohammed sought only to turn people with the sword, if they would
not submit to the rule of his man-made religion. Also, the Qur'an denies
that any but Allah can be an advocate, and therefore Mohammed could not
fulfill that role, by Islam's own teachings. Also, the Comforter had the
role of glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ and to do the work which Christ
sent Him to do. "He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine,
and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine:
therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto
you." (John 16:14-15) Mohammed certainly, as we noted, did not
glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, but instead glorified himself and the
false god Allah. Nor did Mohammed do the work of Christ, but instead
opposed the work of Christ through his denial of the deity and
resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Thus, we see from the passages above that Islam grasps at straws in its
attempts to demonstrate Mohammed in the Bible. By relying on passages
taken out of context and by trying to squeeze meaning into texts where it
does not fit, Muslims seek to falsely authenticate Mohammed as a prophet
sent from God. While Islam must rely on textual gymnastics to
authenticate Mohammed from the Bible, the same need not be said for the
Biblical testimony concerning the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ was the
fulfillment of dozens of EXPLICIT prophecies for which no verbal
wrangling is needed. Precise details of the life and death of the Messiah
predicted hundreds or thousands of years in advance were fulfilled in the
minutest detail by Jesus Christ.
Prophecies Fulfilled by the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
To begin, let us examine the many prophecies which were fulfilled by the
events surrounding the death of Christ.
Genesis 3:15 - "And I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel." - Spoken to the serpent who had tempted
Eve (Satan), and fulfilled by the crucifixion of Christ (see John 19:18,
e.g.) where Christ, the seed of the woman, was killed but rose again from
the dead (bruising of his heel, not a mortal wound), and in doing so
utterly destroyed the power of Satan, who is now merely awaiting his
final destruction (the bruising of his head, representing mortal
wounding).
Psalm 22:1 - "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art
thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?" -
Fulfilled in Matthew 27:36, "And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried
with a loud voice, saying, Eli Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Psalm 22:2 - "O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest
not; and in the night season, and am not silent." - Fulfilled by the
coming of darkness over the whole earth as Jesus cried out from the
cross. "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land
unto the ninth hour." (Matthew 27:45)
Psalm 22:6 - "But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men,
and despised of the people." - This was fulfilled when Christ was
mocked and despised by the various groups of people while He hung on the
cross. (See Matthew 39-44)
Psalm 22:7-8 - "All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they
shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, He trusted on the LORD
that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in
him." - This was also fulfilled in Matthew 27:42-43 as the chief
priests, scribes, and elders mocked Him.
Psalm 22:16 - "For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the
wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet." - This
was fulfilled through the crucifixion of Christ, which involved the
driving of nails through the wrists and ankles of the victim to hold them
up on the cross. See also John 21:27, where Jesus commands the disciple
Thomas to touch the nail prints in his hands as proof that He really was
Jesus risen.
Psalm 22:18 - "They part my garments among them, and cast lots
upon my vesture." - This prophecy was fulfilled when the soldiers
who had crucified Christ did indeed part him garments among them, and
cast lots for his cloak. (See Matthew 27:35)
Psalm 31:5 - "Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast
redeemed, O LORD God of truth." - As God, Christ was the only man to
walk this earth who could voluntarily commit, or give up, His spirit.
"No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have
I received of my Father." (John 10:18) And Christ indeed did give up
His spirit at the time of His choosing on the cross in John 19:30. He did
not die because of His wounds, He died because He chose to at that
moment.
Psalm 34:20 - "He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is
broken." - This was fulfilled by Christ's expiration on the cross in
John 19:30. Because of this, he was already dead when the soldiers came
to break the legs of those on the crosses so that they would die faster.
As He was already dead, they did not break his legs (John 19:33), and
this is explained as the fulfillment of this prophecy (John 19:36).
Interestingly, this also hearkens back to the Passover lamb of Exodus
12:46, which was a type of the coming Christ. No bone of the Passover
lamb was to be broken, and this was fulfilled by Christ not having any of
His bones broken as He was sacrificed for the sins of mankind.
Psalm 35:11 - "False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my
charge things that I knew not." - This was fulfilled with the
bringing of false witnesses to lie about Jesus Christ. (See Mark 14:56)
Psalm 38:11 - "My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my
sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off." - This happened in Luke 23:49,
where Christ's acquaintances and relatives stood afar off from Him
beholding Him.
Psalm 41:9 - "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,
which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me." -
This prophecy was fulfilled by the betrayal of the Lord by Judas. Judas
had traveled with Christ for three years, had been one of the twelve
innermost companions of the Lord. He had eaten bread with Christ, as was
explicitly stated in John 13:26. Yet, through all this, he betrayed the
Lord Jesus Christ over to His enemies.
Psalm 69:3 - "I am weary of my crying; my throat is dried: mine
eyes fail while I wait for my God." - This prophecy of thirst was
fulfilled when the Lord, waiting for the time when He should give up the
ghost and finish the work His Father sent for Him to do, said, "I
thirst" in John 19:28.
Psalm 69:19 - "Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my
dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee." - This was
fulfilled in Matthew 27:28-29 when the Lord was mocked and ridiculed and
brought to shame before the council and the soldiers.
Psalm 69:21 - "They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my
thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." - In John 19:29, the
onlookers gave Jesus Christ vinegar to drink.
Psalm 109:25 - "I became also a reproach unto them: when they
looked upon me, they shaked their heads." - This came to pass in
Matthew 27:39-40 when the mockers are describes as "wagging their
heads" at Christ.
Isaiah 50:6 - "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to
them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and
spitting." - In Matthew 27:26, the Bible records that Pilate had
Jesus scourged, and in verse 30, Jesus was spat upon and beaten.
Isaiah 52:14 - "As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so
marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men." -
Isaiah 53:3 - "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from
him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." - These words were
fulfilled in Mark 15:29-32 when Christ was reviled, rejected, and
despised by those who passed by where He was crucified, and indeed, by
the two thieves who hung next to Him. In a sense, this prophecy is still
being fulfilled today by those who despise, mock, and reject the Lord
Jesus Christ and His free gift of salvation.
Isaiah 53:4-6 - "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried
our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for
our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his
stripes are we healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of
us all." - Peter expounds on this fulfillment in I Peter 2:24,
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that
we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes
ye were healed." This clearly illustrates perhaps the most central
doctrine of the Christian faith: that of the vicarious atonement of Jesus
Christ. Christ died for us, and took the wrath of God against our sins
upon Himself. Through His death, when we trust on Him in faith, we
receive His own righteousness imputed to us, and are given eternal life.
Thus, through His death, we are healed of our spiritual deadness and are
freed from the burden of our own iniquities.
Isaiah 53:7 - "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he
opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." -
When Jesus was questioned before Pilate in Matthew 27:13-14, He
"answered him to never a word." In Luke 23:9, Jesus was also
questioned by Herod, where it is recorded "he answered him
nothing." Jesus, by His silence before these officials who wielded
actual political power, fulfilled this foretale. Jesus was also heralded
by John the Baptist in John 1:29, "Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world." John recognised Christ's role as
the final, ultimate sacrifice which was to be made for the sins of the
whole world. Only God, incarnated as Jesus Christ, could be a perfect,
sinless offering to propitiate His own wrath and cover and truly wash
away sins from a lowly sinner. Christ, thus, was the fulfillment of the
typological picture given by the Passover lamb which was slaughtered to
avert God's wrath (see Exodus 12:1-30).
Isaiah 53:9 - "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with
the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any
deceit in his mouth." - This came to pass when Jesus' body was given
to the rich man Joseph of Arimathea, and was lain in the sepulcher owned
by this man. Thus, He was lain in a rich man's tomb.
Isaiah 52:12 - "Therefore will I divide him a portion with the
great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath
poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the
transgressors; and he bare the sin of man, and made intercession for the
transgressors." - Mark 15:27-28 records the fulfillment of this
prophecy in that Christ was crucified between two thieves, hence, that He
was numbered (or reckoned to be with) these transgressors. Also, Christ
made intercession for the transgressors when, on the cross, He prayed to
the Father, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they
do." (Luke 23:34)
Daniel 9:26 - "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah
be cut off, but not for himself..." - This prophecy of Daniel gave
the exact date of Christ's death. The prophetic phraseology
"week" refers to a period of seven years, and years by
prophetic reckoning (such as used in Revelation) are 360 days, not the
365.25 days of our sidereal calendar. Thus, threescore and two weeks
(which would be 62 periods of seven years each, or 434 years of 360 days
each) beginning at the date of the rebuilding of Jerusalem (cf. Daniel
9:25) which was in 446 BC, would give a date for the death of Christ at
27 AD. From historical records, we can surmise that Christ was born in 4
BC (as this was the year Herod died, which is mentioned to have occurred
near after Christ's birth). Christ began His ministry at the age of 30
years, which was the age at which a Jewish priest could begin his
ministry, and he ministered for three to three and a half years, so He
would have died at the age of 33, in 27 AD. Hence, Daniel's prophecy,
given nearly 600 years before the death of Christ, gave the exact year in
which the Lord was crucified and rose again from the dead!
Zechariah 11:12 - "And I said unto them, If ye think good, give
me my price; and if not, forebear. So they weighed for my price thirty
pieces of silver." - This foretold the betrayal of the Lord by Judas
for thirty pieces of silver, the price which the chief priests payed to
him to commit his wicked deed (See Matthew 26:15).
Zechariah 11:13 - "And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the
potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the
thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the
LORD." - This was fulfilled in Matthew 27:3-7 when Judas, after
realising the magnitude of his error and filled with remorse, cast the
thirty pieces of silver he had received back to the chief priests in the
Temple, which was the house of the Lord. They then used this money to
purchase a potter's field."
Zechariah 12:10 - "And I will pour upon the house of David, and
upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of
supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and
they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be
in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his
firstborn." - This prophecy was met in Luke 23:27 which records that
"a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and
lamented him."
Zechariah 13:7 - Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the
man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and
the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little
ones." - This prophecy was doubly fulfilled. Jesus, described as the
Shepherd and Bishop of our souls in I Peter 2:25, was indeed smitten when
He was crucified. Likewise, just as Jesus foretold to His disciples in
Matthew 26:31 that they would be scattered (quoting Zechariah 13:7) the
night of His crucifixion, so they were when in Mark 14:50, "they all
forsook him, and fled."
Other Prophecies Fulfilled by Christ
In addition to these, the life and person of Jesus Christ fulfilled other
prophecies given in the Old Testament.
Christ's virgin birth - Isaiah 14:7 - "Therefore the Lord
himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear
a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel." - The birth of Christ
fulfilled this when, by the Mary's own testimony to her virginity, He was
born of her. Luke 1:27 describes Mary as a virgin, and Mary herself
stated in Luke 1:34, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a
man?". Yet, she conceived by the Holy Ghost and gave birth to the
Messiah, Jesus Christ, just as Isaiah 7:14 said would happen, and this is
a sign to all who read and hear of it that God's Word is true and
testifies to the unique status of Christ as the God-man, God Incarnate
without the sin nature passed down from generation to generation of man.
As an aside, the Hebrew word translated as virgin in Isaiah 7:14 is
"almah", which refers to something veiled, protected, and is
always used to describe a virginal young woman. Likewise, in the New
Testament, virgin is translated from the Greek word
"parthenos", which also literally means "secluded,
protected, veiled and set apart", and describes a woman who has been
protected from the attentions of a man. The biological term
parthenogenesis comes from the same word, and refers to the reproduction
of certain single-celled species without sexual interaction, i.e.
"virgin births".
The Messiah to be Born in Bethlehem - Micah 5:2 - "But thou,
Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah,
yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in
Israel; whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting." -
In this passage, it was foretold that the future king of Israel, the
Messiah who would one day establish His reign and save His people, would
come from Bethlehem. And indeed, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem and
was of the lineage of David which sprang from Bethlehem. Christ came to
bring men into the kingdom of God, and He will one day return and
establish His rulership over Israel and save His people. "And so all
Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the
Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." (Romans
8:26) Before Christ could save His people, though, He had to die for them
and become their sin-sacrifice, the Lamb who took the wrath of God upon
Himself in their place. His blood was shed for all mankind, Israel
included, and Israel will one day turn and accept Him as their Saviour.
Herod's Slaughter of the Children of Bethlehem - Jeremiah 31:15 -
"Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and
bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted
for her children, because they were not." - This passage from
Jeremiah, in its context, describes the weeping of the women of the tribe
of Benjamin when their children were taken from them and deported to
Babylon after Judah was conquered by the Babylonians. The historical
background behind this context is that Ramah was a town about 5 miles
from Jerusalem, which was also near to Bethlehem of the tribe of Judah.
When Judah was conquered by the Babylonians, Ramah served as a staging
point for the caravans taking the Jewish captives away to Babylon. Thus,
the women of Judah lamented their lost children at this place, and are
personified by Rahel (Rachel), who was one of the wives of Jacob, and the
mother of Benjamin, whose descendents were still associated with the town
and region at the time of Jeremiah's writing. This weeping and lamenting
for their lost children also served as a type which foresaw a prophetic
event fulfilled in the circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ. As
Matthew 2:16-18 records, King Herod saw that his royal authority had been
flaunted by the wise men who came to worship the Christ. He was angry
over this, and was also troubled at the news that another King was born
(Matthew 2:3). Herod felt that the Christ child would be a threat to his
petty dominion, and therefore determined to kill the child Jesus before
He could grow up and become a threat. As a result of this, Herod ordered
all male children under the age of two years to be slaughtered in all the
area around Bethlehem, which would include Jerusalem and Ramah. As one
could reasonably understand, this would cause great sorrow for the women
whose children had just been murdered. Thus, this event fulfilled the
prophecy uttered by Jeremiah some 600 years before, which had depicted an
event which was to be associated with the Messiah.
The Flight of Jesus' Family to Egypt - Hosea 11:1 - "When Israel
was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." -
This prophetic passage was accounted when, upon being warned in a dream
of the danger impending from Herod's purge, Joseph took Mary and the
Christ child and fled to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15). Matthew specifically
mentions that this event was to set up the fulfillment of the prophecy in
verse 15. And indeed, the prophecy that God's Son was to be called out of
Egypt was fulfilled when, after Herod's death, God called Joseph to bring
Mary and Jesus back to Judea from out of Egypt (Matthew 2:19-23).
Jesus' Galilean ministry - Isaiah 9:1-2 - "Nevertheless the
dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he
lightly afflicted the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, and
afterward did not grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond
Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness
have seen a great light: they than dwell in the land of the shadow of
death, upon them hath the light shined." - This passage foretold
that the ministry of the then-coming Messiah would be in the region of
Galilee, a district in northern Israel near the Sea of Galilee and beyond
the Jordan, extending toward what was called Decapolis during Roman
times. This was roughly the region encompassed in the lands given to the
tribes of Zebulon and Naphtali when Joshua divided Canaan among the
Israelites after their entry into the Promised Land. Indeed, Galilee was
the area where most of Christ's ministry was carried out, other than in
Jerusalem itself. The Lord only passed through Samaria, and had very
little if anything to do in Judea in the south. Jesus said in John 9:5,
"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
Indeed, the light of Christ shone in Galilee, enlightening the people who
had walked in darkness in Zebulon and Naphtali.
Jesus Declared by God the Father to be Son of God - Psalm 2:7 -
"I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my
Son; this day have I begotten thee." - This prophecy was fulfilled
when God the Father spoke as Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, as
witnessed by Peter, James, and John. "..This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." (Matthew 17:5). Christ was
declared by the Father to be His Son, establishing Christ's full deity.
Jesus Spoke in Parables - Psalm 78:2-4 - "I will open my mouth
in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and
known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their
children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and
his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done." - This was
fulfilled in the way that Jesus preached to the multitudes. He taught in
parables, which were not merely stories designed to elucidate points or
demonstrate practical applications, but had the specific purpose of
concealing truth from the unbelieving (Matthew 13:10-16). Those who
opposed Christ and did not believe in Him could not understand the words
that He spoke. "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he
shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not; from him shall be
taken away even that he hath." (Matthew 13:12) To those who had
faith, knowledge and understanding were added in abundance, but to those
who did not have faith in Christ, the truth that they had heard from Him
was lost completely on them. This parallels the passage in I Corinthians
2:12-14 which tells us that a spiritual (saved, believing) person can
understand and learn from God's Word, while a natural (lost, saved,
unbelieving) person cannot receive or understand what the Bible says.
Jesus' teaching in parables fulfilled the prophecy in the Psalms, as is
pointed out explicitly in Matthew 13:34-35).
The biblical testimony from the Hebrew scriptures is quite clear.
Jesus Christ was the unique fulfillment of dozens of prophecies given by
God. The odds of one single person fulfilling each and every one of these
prophecies, as Jesus has done, is literally so astronomically remote as
to be absolutely impossible. Yet, He did. While Muslims have to scrabble
for convoluted explanations to try to find Mohammed in the Biblical
record, Jesus Christ is quite clearly shown to have been predicted as the
Messiah who was to come for Israel and for the whole world.
End Notes
(1) - J.F. Walvoord and R.B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary,
p.43
(2) - W. Cooper, After the Flood, Appendix 2
(3) - C. Coon, The Races of Man, various places
(4) - Yaqut al-Hamawi, Mu'jam al-Buldan, Vol. III, p.834
(5) - Faran in Arabic is rightly equated with Paran. In Hebrew, both the
“p” and the “f“ are represented by the letter “Pe“. The pronunciation of
this letter depends upon the presence or lack of the Dagesh Lene within
the letter. If it lacked the Dagesh, as it would in unpointed Hebrew
scripts (pointing did not arise until the medieval period), then it would
indicate the “f” phenome. Further, Arabic does not have the "p"
phoneme except in certain loan words. Early Muslims, relatively
unfamiliar with the contextual rules of Hebrew that would indicate how to
pronounce an unpointed Hebrew text and not naturally using the
"p" phoneme anywise, may have inadvertently altered the name
Paran to Faran. We can see this phenomenon occurring also in Yaqut’s
passage with the the alteration of Palestine to Filistiin.
(6) - Al-Idrisi, Nuzhat al-Mushtaq fi Ikhtiraq al-Afaq, p.2; from G. Le
Strange, Palestine under the Moslems, p. 440
(7) - The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, trans. R.F. Burton,
Vol. VII, Tale #154, FN #419
(8) - Which they would have to do. The Red Sea was historically known for
its treacherous waters, and was little used for traffic until the time of
the Romans, whose ponderous ships could better sustain the rough seas.
Thus, their route to Egypt would have to have been by land, back exactly
the way they came, to get to the Egyptian court in the northern part of
that land.
(9) - K.A. Creswell, Muslim Architecture of Egypt, p. 137ff
(10) - Ahmad ibn Jabir al-Baladhuri, Kitab Futuh al-Buldha, ed. de
Groeje, p. 276
(11) - Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi, al-Mawa`iz wa al-i`tibar fi dhikr
al-khitat wa al-athar, 1326:6
(12) - K.A. Creswell, Muslim Architecture of Egypt, p. 150
(13) - M. Cook and P. Crone, Hagarism: The Making of the Muslim World, p.
23
(14) - see W. Wright, A Short History of Syriac Literature, p. 604
(15) - G. Hawting, "The
Origins of the Muslim Sanctuary at Mecca", Studies in the First
Century of Islamic Society, ed. G.H.A.
Juynboll, pp. 27-28
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