Lesson 23, No Questions Allowed.
Sura 5, called "The Table"
As we move on, please take note here that so far, except for those few verses of Sura 1, everything you have heard, up to and including today's portion, was composed in Medina, and therefore, for the most part, has not been abrogated. That is, these things are still in effect for Muslims of our day.
Chapter 5 opens with rules and regulations, some of which seem to be from Arab paganism, and others copied directly from the law of Moses, e.g., that which dies of itself, blood, pork, meat sacrificed to idols, etc, all are forbidden to the good Muslim.
Repeated is the notion that Muhammad has come to clear up what the Jews and Christians had perverted and were hiding.
Re-enforced is the worst of the heresies, verse 17: "Infidels indeed are those who said 'Surely Allah is the Christ, son of Mary.'" He is so bold here as to add that if he, Allah, wants to destroy the Christ along with his mother, and in fact everyone on the planet, that is his business since "he creates what he wills."
Muhammad has trouble understanding why those who say they are sons of God, namely Jews and Christians, are punished for their sins. But in the next breath he says that Allah forgives whom he wills and "torments" whom he wills.
We would add that the true God "wills" to punish His own children to perfect them and bring them to glory. He "wills" to forgive all who ask Him for that forgiveness. In other words, the true God of Heaven is not capricious and disconnected from his creation to the point where He does not feel or care. It is this "distance" of Allah that literally sets him apart from Jehovah.
A couple of Bible stories follow. The first, about the 12 spies, their report, and Israel's 40 year punishment, is relatively in order. The next is not. It begins with two sons of Adam, unnamed here, and how one murdered the other. Then comes a raven to the murderer to show him how to bury the murdered. This tale is thought to have originated from an ancient Jewish legend.
He goes on to say that if you kill one person, you have killed an entire people. If you preserve one person, you have preserved all. Again ancient Jewish sources are used, but Muhammad has Allah saying that this doctrine is "inscribed" by the approved messengers and is to be believed.
Though Jesus also goes from lesser to greater in His explanations of sin, the way this is stated seems a bit over the top. Jesus says that lust in the heart equals adultery, and hate in the heart equals murder. But He never seems to place universal guilt on a soul for one sin committed. He seems to be as concerned for the one victim as He is for the group, and for the sin as it stands as opposed to any implications beyond the obvious.
To men and women caught in and accused of sin, our God simply says, "Go. And sin no more." With Allah the guilt is overwhelming, crushing.
Those readers who may have heard that in Islam a thief is to have his hands removed will find proof of that in verse 38. "And the male thief and the female thief, so cut off their hands..."
In Christ, a simple word is enough: "Let him that stole, steal no more." The Christian ex-thief is admonished to put his hands to work in honest employment. The Muslim ex-thief can never have a chance to work again with his hands after that theft has been rewarded. Once again, the comparison of Christ to Allah is startling, and to us, refreshing.
Verse 68 commands Muslim people of Muhammad's day to obey the Torah and the Gospel of Jesus. This must mean that the writings available in Muhammad's day were in order after all. But herein is an impossible thing for a Muslim. He cannot obey the Torah and the Gospel and the Koranic writings all at the same time. The Scriptures indicated are worlds apart. Muhammad seems to be clueless about even the distance from Moses to Jesus.
Once more in verse 69 we are told that Jews, idol-worshiping Sabeans, and Christians are in good shape if they believed in Allah and did good works. Yet he has already said in 3:85 (remember?) that Islam is the only religion. Either this is another blatant contradiction, or we must be led to believe that Muhammad considers all these other groups to be a part of Allah's religion. Quite a stretch.
In verses 93ff, Muhammad seems to abrogate what he said about dietary rules. Here, if a person was a good-deed-doer, he feared, he believed, well, for him all laws are suspended. He can eat what he wills.
Verse 96 specifically okays all seafood, though the Torah of his day truly came against much of it (Deuteronomy 14:10).
A singular Islamic principle is espoused beginning in verse 101. It is the hallmark of all authoritarian governments, without which they will fall. Essentially it says, don't ask questions! The answers, says the merciful Allah, "would be harmful to you." Well, the answers would be harmful to Islam, this is certain. The entire structure would - and will - fall like a house of cards, when its false foundations are exposed.
Is Jesus restrictive to our questioning? How often are the teachings of Jesus interrupted by questions? How often was His response negative?
"We don't know where You are going. How can we know the way?"
"Lord, show us the Father, and we'll be satisfied."
"Lord, how is it You will manifest yourself to us and not to the world?"
"What is this that He says to us, 'A little while'? We cannot tell what He is saying!"
"Lord, show us the parable of the tares."
"Lord, teach us to pray."
"I will not believe unless I see the print of the nails in His hands!"
Our God can handle our questions. There may be a few answers that indeed would not be good for us to know, but never would He therefore shut down our inquiries altogether. Good teachers love to be asked. Jesus is a good teacher.
Muhammad on the other hand seems constantly threatened.
Next are the procedures to be in place when making a will. Two witnesses are needed. But if it turns out they have committed a serious sin, they are to be replaced by two others who will swear by Allah that their testimony is better than the former ones. Trouble is, Muslims are permitted, by other Koranic principles that we studied, to speak one thing with their mouth and another with their heart. Can such witnesses be trusted in the matter of a will?
Allah then reminds Jesus of Allah's grace on him, including the power of the holy spirit that caused him to speak with a man's voice from his cradle, to make flying birds out of clay, to heal the blind and the leper, even raise the dead.
Muhammad's faith allows him to believe so much about Jesus, from sources that are both good and evil. He has picked and chosen the stories he needed, created a Jesus of his own, and thrust that Jesus on the nations, fulfilling prophecies of the real Jesus and his followers about vicious wolves that would come to destroy the flock of God.
Our present chapter receives its name from a story told only in Koran about a table that is to descend on the disciples from Heaven. On this table is to be a feast. Perhaps this is Muhammad's understanding of the Lord's table. It is to be a "sign", says Muhammad. Here, then, perhaps he gives a nod to the Roman Mass so as to include that religion in his growing assemblage. He warns that anyone who becomes an infidel after such a great sign as this will be tormented with "a torment [with which] I will not torment any one of the worlds." He seems to love reminding his people about the coming torment...
Also in keeping with Catholic theology is the following segment of "truth" from Allah. Isa (Jesus) is accused of saying to the people, "Take me and my mother as two gods, other than Allah." Jesus flatly denies such a statement. In one swoop here, Muhammad says that it is Christian belief that Jesus and Mary are divine! And that Jesus denied such divinity, not only for His mother, but for Himself!" Touche!
But that truth will not stand. Even the true Romanist will deny that Mary is divine, though that people certainly do seem to be involved in worshiping her. And as for the Deity of Jesus Christ, I challenge any open-minded person to read carefully only three chapters of Scripture and deny that Jesus claimed to be One with the Father: John 14, 15, and 16. You may not agree with Jesus' conclusions, but you must agree that that is what Jesus taught.
We are becoming accustomed to contradictions in the Koran by now. But as "Jesus" continues his speech in verse 117, he seems to deny what we learned in the last sura, that Allah raised Jesus up to be with him as opposed to allowing his death here. Here are the exact words:
"...I was a witness among them as long as I was with them. So when you caused me to die, you were the watcher over them..."
Did he or didn't he? Thankfully, we "Nasara" have a sure word about this. He both died and was resurrected by the Father, then caught up in the heavenlies from which He will descend one day, maybe soon, to take vengeance on all His enemies, and to catch us up to be with Him forever. And nothing that anyone else says about this will take away this certain knowledge He has placed in our hearts by His Spirit.
Lesson 24, Allah Creates Evil.
Sura 6, called "The Livestock"
With this reading we are suddenly thrust back into time, Islamically speaking, from Medina to Mecca. What follows are some earlier teachings of Muhammad, during a time when his new religion was on the rise in Arabia. Keep that in mind as we proceed today.
Though an earlier writing, this sura begins in the defensive tone we have come to recognize. Allah is proclaimed creator, and the sender of the revelations they have already received and that they are receiving now. But people are rejecting these things, and Muhammad is forced into harsh language with them.
How unlike this is the beginning of our own Bibles, where creation and the history of mankind and God's people are presented in such a matter-of-fact way. No threats and insecurity are projected in the book of Genesis, just delightful reading!
In this early work, Muhammad is asked to be the first Muslim (verse 14), whereas later he will be including Abraham, Jesus, and the apostles under that title. We tend to agree with the Meccan version, even though Medina's revelations may abrogate Mecca's.
Note also in this paragraph (verse 18) that Allah is called the "dominator above his servants" since he has "might over all things." The Bible, though it is clear about God's mighty power, has Jesus revealing God as a servant to mankind, one who washes feet and dies on a cross.
In verse 23 those who come against Allah are branded as polytheists in denial. Early on Muhammad has rejected the idea of three-in-one, the Godhead. Surely only Jesus' sheep understand such a teaching, and they just barely. But that the teaching is obviously in Scripture, understood or not, is clear. We get a glimpse in John 14:26, "...the Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things..." Why does the Father have to use the name of Jesus? How can the Spirit know all things?
From the beginning the men around him, Christians of some sort and Jews, claimed that Muhammad's teachings were borrowed from prevailing legends of the day. He denies this in verses 25ff, but offers no substantial proof for his denial.
Then in verse 34 comes a wonderful confirmation of Christian truth, which if Muslims today believed, the Koran would be set aside as yet another ancient legend. I read here, "no one can change the words of Allah." (See also verse 115). If this is true, the Old Testament we have today is the same that Muhammad had, and that Moses and the prophets wrote. Ditto, New Testament. This word is valid and settled in the heavens, and cannot be changed! Amen, Muhammad! And the Koran contradicts both of these books so often as to be proof of its own invalidity.
At least that is what this verse implies... But Muhammad follows up with a scathing denunciation of "transgressors," that is "those who considered our verses lies". They will be tormented. He even prescribes a blessing by which we are to receive those who do believe his book: "Peace be on you. Your lord has prescribed the mercy on himself."
Abraham is again the topic in verses 74ff. For some reason, Muhammad believes that Abraham's father is one "Azur", though the Bible knows him as Terah. The translator suggests that perhaps he was referring mistakenly to Eliezer, Abraham's faithful servant. It is a mistake, either way. The story is weaved here of how Abraham was called out of pagan worship to worship of the one true God. It's not a bad story, and it seems original, but any story that connects God's men to the Koran's teaching is immediately suspect as to origin. He goes on to list many Bible characters and warns them all not to become polytheists, lest they lose everything.
A good warning. Better still is what Muhammad admonishes in verse 93: "And who is more unjust than one who forged a lie against Allah, or said 'It has been revealed to me,' when nothing was revealed to him."
Indeed. This is hurled to all who would dare speak against Islam. We pick up the accusation and hurl it back to anyone who claims to have received revelations against the truths of the Bible, the Deity of Christ, the essence of the Godhead, and much more. If he insists, and it is found to be true, that he did indeed receive such revelations, then we must have a serious discussion about the sources, for no man can deny Christ's person and work and go un-challenged.
This denial continues in verse 101, where Allah insists that he can have no son if he has no female companion. Muhammad is here thinking totally in the natural, as must every man in whom the Spirit of God has not come to dwell. He knows the facts of life well enough to know that a son comes from a man and a woman. To imply that a holy God has had a physical relationship with an earth-bound woman is nonsensical and blasphemous to him. Muslims today must be even more outraged when they discover that this same God continues to have children all over the planet in much, though not exactly, the same way. His Spirit is life. This life connects to the human in processes of which we are unaware, and produces that life again and again within them. In Mary's case the life was connected to physical life cells and produced a physical/spiritual Son, the "only-begotten" Son.
John 3:16 is improperly translated "one and only son" in the NIV. The essence of the Deity of Jesus connected to His humanity is that He is the only begotten, the only Son of God who came into the world by means of standard human birth processes.
Islam must and does deny all of this, and uses verses such as this 6:101 to do it. The next verses include in ignorance all those who come against Muhammad. Still, Muslims are told in these early Koranic verses, (verse 108) "And do not curse those who call rather than Allah," lest they curse Allah accidentally. They are to take an almost Pauline approach here, "If anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant." This attitude will change when the swords are flying in Medina.
First mention of the "jinns" is in this sura. These are supernatural beings, not angels, but created of God even before the creation of man. As one hears their behavior described by Muslim tradition, one can only think "demons." This definition is denied by Muslims, since demons are actually angels, and jinns are not of that order.
In verse 112 Allah says that jinns are created with the specific task of countering true prophets. He imagines (verse 128ff) jinns and humans working together to meet the "quota" of lost people that God has ordained.
So when you see someone refuting Islam, it is quite possible he is being influenced by a jinn. But that jinn, remember, is on assignment, not from Satan, but from Allah.
So does our God create evil forces to counter good ones? Does God deliberately try to deceive His own, as is repeated often in the book so far? Yes, according to Muhammad. "Likewise Allah made the uncleanness on those who do not believe." Here is in actuality the God that our own anti-Calvinists have pictured, but wrongfully. I will assume for the argument that no follower of Calvin or Augustine pictures God as does Muhammad. Yet, that Muhammad sees him this way, is now before you. What say ye? How different is our God?
This is a serious and deep subject. But we start with the fact that nothing evil was ever created by our God. Lucifer himself was perfect and beautiful at the beginning. Whence came the pride in his heart that eventually lifted him to exalt himself so? God? But in God is no darkness, we are told, and we believe it. Darkness comes from within the creation, within that will with which we have been endowed, we men, and angels too.
We leave it at that for now. God is not the author of evil. Evil can be used by God for His and our good, but He cannot create or do evil. Period. Muhammad is wrong again, for he has once more clashed with a revelation given by the Holy Spirit.
There is a difficult discussion that follows concerning offerings to Allah, including livestock, from which presumably this chapter is named.
A curious statement about Allah not loving extravagant gifts we will pass over for now... though we happen to know that our God delights in extravagance, whether in praise, giving, loving...
Lesson 25, Muhammad Sees Himself in the Bible.
Sura 7, known as "Al Araf"
As with Sura 6, so also Sura 7, the origin is Mecca, that is, it is among the earlier chapters written.
Allah, the merciful, is shown in the first verses of this chapter as one who destroys whole villages in his wrath, and as one who is carefully weighing with his balances the works of men. Those who are "unjust to our verses" will be condemned. Thus is Islam portrayed as a religion of works, somewhat akin to the religion forming in Rome as Islam rose. Here is a case where, as Paul explains, "the letter kills." That is, my religion vs your religion. My book vs your book. Not understood by these law makers and law keepers is the New Covenant written on the hearts of men, not on tables of stone, or pieces of leather, or papyri. The changed life. A new heart.
Muhammad's story of Adam is re-told here, with the added information that the devil was created from fire and thus felt superior to Adam, made of clay. This is why he would not bow to Adam as he is being commanded to do. God's reaction to the devil is to get rid of him immediately, but the devil asks that he be allowed to stay until the resurrection. Fine, says he, and he, Allah, will fill hell with all of the devil's followers.
There follows the story of the fall of man as recorded in the Bible. But when they tasted the tree, says Muhammad, "their private parts appeared to them." This part of the sinfulness of man stands out in the Koran as the central feature of all. But, they clothe themselves, then are given clothes and "feathers" (?) as they leave the garden.
But the confusion regarding clothing continues in the next verses (27ff) as Allah is made to say that the devil, now called Satan, "got your parents out of the garden by taking their clothes off to show them their private parts."
Again thinking in the natural, Muhammad cannot conceive of a situation in which nakedness could be a good thing, just as approved as the nakedness of all the rest of the creation. So he has to have Adam and Eve clothed originally, then made naked by the devil. And once more the word of God has been corrupted, not by Jews, not by Christians, but by this prophet.
Yet as you read on, you hear Allah cursing all unbelievers. "So who is more unjust than he who forged a lie against Allah or considered his verses lies?" No, not until a "camel penetrates the eye of the needle" will such people enter the special garden of God. Muhammad here even copies from Jesus to make his point.
In verse 46 we are introduced to the al-araf, which gives its name to the chapter. This is one of the many non-Arabic words of the Koran, and is defined as a wall between the heavenly garden and hell. Muhammad paints a picture of persons in hell and others who may be on their way there. He shows them "on the fence" as it were, on a high wall, not necessarily good enough for heaven or bad enough for hell, a sort of Islamic purgatory. Muhammad again betrays the culture in which he was raised, where ideas foreign to God's revelation have already taken hold on God's people. The prophet of Mecca freely borrows from them, it would seem.
Verses 59ff tell of Noah's encounters with evil men of his day. Evil of course because they considered Allah's verses lies.
Muhammad now adds to the record his own creations: Houd, Saleh, and Shoaib. There is essentially no evidence from history or archaeology, or the Bible, that these persons ever lived. They are brought in to make a point.
The prophet Houd. A messenger from Allah exhorting people to serve Allah faithfully. "Houd" makes mention of the "viceroys of the people of Noah." The people whom he is addressing are told that they are indeed those viceroys, and that they have been spared judgment, an awful "vengeance and wrath." Does not Muhammad believe in a universal flood? Is he saying that some were allowed to live?
Themoud appears with a very special camel. He preaches his message to some rebellious infidels, who harm his special camel, and therefore come to ruin in an earthquake. Allah is not to be messed with.
Shoaib is the center of a similar tale. His hearers defy him and call him back to their religion, and are also seized by "the quake", over which Allah refuses to be grieved, since they are nothing more than infidels.
Verses 94ff. Other prophets are sent to various villages, always with the same result. Allah concludes that "if we will, we can afflict them with their sins and seal their hearts so that they will not hear..."
Yes, God has included all in unbelief, says Paul. Yes, all have sinned. All are worthy of eternal damnation. Yet the Hebrew/Christian Bible holds out until the end a bright hope for salvation for all who will call on the name of the Lord. This hope is absent in the Koran, since it is totally dependent on whether Allah will deceive a man or tell him the truth. And then it is dependent on whether man's works are good enough to meet the demanding requirements.
Muhammad's history lesson now moves on to Moses. We see again that mixture of true and false. For example, in the relating of Moses' initial encounters with Pharaoh, Muhammad has all the sorcerers of the land falling down and worshiping the true God when they realize how impotent is their craft. Threatened with crucifixion and the loss of hands and feet, they cry out, "Our lord, pour out patience on us and cause us to die Muslims."
Muslims. 2000 years before Muhammad, who calls himself the first of that tribe.
Oh, and did I say "crucifixion"? Yes indeed. Hundreds of years before the Roman Empire brought it to the world's attention, Muhammad has Pharaoh using crucifixion on a regular basis in Egypt.
Israel is delivered from Egypt, but immediately becomes idolatrous. Moses is called to a thirty-night meeting which stretches into forty nights. God then appears in glory in the mountain, and the mountain is pulverized. Moses passes out, and when he revives he recognizes he is the first of the believers. Originally, this honor was Abraham's. Then Muhammad said it was his own. And above we read of even Egyptian sorcerers claiming the title of Muslim, too. Who was indeed the first Muslim believer?
Stone tablets become wooden boards in the Koran. Ten commandments become "an exposition of everything." When the boards are later thrown down, no breakage is recorded. But Aaron's hair almost is, as Moses grabs him there and drags him to himself, while Aaron pleads for his life.
A calf made from Israelite ornaments actually "gave a mooing sound." Allah is mad at the people for thinking it could do anything other than moo. After all, it was only a cow. It cannot talk truth to you like I can.
Perhaps worst of all in this segment of Hebrew lore is Muhammad's contention that the great prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15-22, about a prophet like Moses who will come, is actually Muhammad.
That this is false I shall try to make evident here.
1. The prophet is to come out of Israel, "like [Moses] from your midst, from your brethren." He must be Jewish. Muhammad was not Jewish.
2. He will speak God's words, in particular, prophecies that shall come to pass. The Mosaic passage here indicates that the way a person could be identified as a false prophet is by the accuracy of his predictive prophecy. Muhammad spoke almost no predictive prophecy. We will address his attempts at this practice later, and show that there is no clear fulfillment of anything he ever predicted.
I probably did not need to prove to any listener/reader that Muhammad is not "that prophet". Nevertheless, documentation is always important when making statements of Biblical truth. Or any statements.
In the latter verses of Acts chapter 3 is a clear statement of who Deuteronomy's "Prophet" really is. Muhammad unwittingly or perhaps deliberately attempts to upstage the Son of God.
The following verses, 163ff, state boldly that Allah tempts people to sin. "We have divided them on the earth into nations, some of them are the good and some are otherwise, and we tempted them with good and evil..." Here Muhammad has come against the Bible's Brother James, who simply says in James 1:13-14 that God does not tempt anyone. When God speaks, everyone else needs to be silent. God shall not be blamed for our wickedness!
We have almost finished sura 7. Next time we will conclude it and go on to 8.
