Quennel Gale at queball20@yahoo.com
God is a Man? Yes, God the
Son that is.
Here we will discuss the topic about God being a man. These arguments are by a Muslim on Idjnet called Muhammad.
Is God a man ?
Most Christians due to their dependence on
Christian translations and commentaries of the Tenach are unaware of the vast
body of scriptural evidence that exists revealing that the God of Abraham ,
Isaac and Jacob is not a man or any other created being . God through out the
Tenach makes it quite clear that he's not a created being nor a composite unity
of three persons in one as the Christians contend .
Christians
never thought of God as being a created man, however unlike what this Muslim
claims, God is never used as a single numerical one. Read this verse to see how
the Bible clearly shows a trinity.
Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I
am He, I am the first, I am also the last. Surely My hand
founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to
them, they stand together. Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among
them has declared these things? [Yahweh] or the LORD loves him; he shall carry
out His good pleasure on Babylon, and His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him, I have brought him, and He
will make his ways successful. Come near to Me, listen to this: From the
first I have not spoken in secret, from the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit."
The
identity of the speaker is clearly the God of Israel because He calls Himself
"the first and last" in verse 12. This title had already been used of
Yahweh of Hosts in Isaiah 44:6:
"Thus says [Yahweh], the King of Israel and his
Redeemer, [Yahweh] of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last,
and there is no God besides Me.'"
The
Hebrew for "I am the first and I am the last" is the same in Isaiah
44:6 and 48:12: .... This God is further identified as "the Yahweh of
armies" in Isaiah 44:6.
Already
we see that this Muslim, whose name just happens to be Muhammad, is refuted
already. We see that there are clearly
3 separate beings working in the divine Godhead. Keep this in mind because we
will see how this plays along in the rest of this paper.
The
divine title "the first and the last" means that He is the first God
and the last God because there are no other gods before or after Him. He alone
is God. But yet we see that God has more than a numerical one that is called
this, so this clearly shows us that God is a unit working together as ONE.
There is no other unit like God. Check the dictionary, One is also defined as a
unit, which is itself defined as more than one working as ONE.
The
speaker in Isa. 48 is further identified by doing things which only God can do
such as absolute foreknowledge (vs. 3,5,6), creation (v.13), sovereignty (v.
15), and omnipresence (v. 16).
Who
else but the one true God could say:
"For My own sake, for My own sake, I
will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to
another." (Isa. 48:11)
No
one should have the slightest difficulty in identifying the speaker as God. The
context of the passage and the grammar of the
text
are both very clear. But prejudiced anti-Trinitarians must object because the God
who is speaking says that He, along with
One of the reasons the Children of Israel to this day don't recognize Jesus as the Messiah or worship him as a "god man" is because the Tenach is filled with examples of God telling the Children of Israel not to worship strange gods or the image of any created thing , whether it be in the heavens or upon the earth it's not to be worshiped . However if they like Muhammad read the scripture closely they could clearly see that God means not to worship other gods, who aren’t the father, son and the holy ghost.
Lets see what God says :
"If there arise among you a
prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the
sign or the wonder come to pass, where of he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go
after other gods, WHICH THOUGH HAST NOT KNOWN , and let us serve them;
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of
that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD
your God proveth you, to know whether ye
love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.Ye shall walk
after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his
voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him." (Deuteronomy 13:1-4 )
Notice the words "which thou hast not known" .... Here God tells the Children of Israel that if a prophet or dreamer arises among them and this prophet or dreamer performs signs and wonders (miracles ) and tells them to worship and serve a god which is foreign to what they know , to what they have been taught concerning God then they are to reject and stone to death that false prophet or dreamer .
However
God also shows that Jesus wasn’t a false prophet read:
Isaiah 9:6. "For there has been a child born to
us, there has been a son given to us; and the princely rule will come to be
upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counslor, Mighty
God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
The
word ELOHIM is present in this verse, Mighty God is the name of this person,
who is Jesus and if Muhammad tries to downplay the term Mighty God he should
read this:
The
Bible only uses this term to describe GOD, just look at Isaiah 10:21-
"The remnant shall return, even the remnant of
Jacob, unto the mighty God."
This
scripture clearly says that Israel shall return to God. In Jeremiah 32:18-
"Thou shewest loving kindness unto thousands,
and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children
after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name."
The same term used for Jesus was used for God- "THE MIGHTY GOD". When you continue down in the passage to 32:20-21-
Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of
Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made
thee a name, as at this day; And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of
the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and
with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
You see that "The MIGHTY GOD" brought the Jews out of the land of Egypt as well as performed the signs and wonders. The evidence presented against Jesus not being God doesn't stand up under close scrutiny because the bible says that "Mighty God", along with the Lord of hosts is the name of God. Only these special names are used for God, which shows that Yes JESUS IS GOD AS WELL AS MAN.
When these words were spoken by God to
the Children of Israel they didn't worship a "god man" nor did they
believe God was a created being hence if hundreds or thousands of years later
some prophet or dreamer arises among them and proclaims :
" worship this man , he is God
incarnate ! "
then the children of Israel should
respond :
This
is a strawman argument presented by brother Muhammad because how could the Jews
worship a godman at that time if God didn’t reveal the God man until thousands
of years later?!!!!!
"
This is not the God of Israel who revelaed him self through the prophets and
spoke to them in the desert telling them not to follow other gods which they
did not know "
Lets
see who was the God that spoke to them in the desert. In fact lets look at the
God that spoke to Moses the founder of Judaism. Look at Exodus 3:2-6-
"And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned
with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn
aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the
LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of
the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not
nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou
standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face;
for he
was afraid to look upon God."
The
text clearly shows that it was the Angel of Yahweh that appeared at the burning
bush. This angel calls HIMSELF the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob." The scripture also calls the Angel "God". Very
interesting because we see clearly again that there is more than one person
called Yahweh.
The Jewish scriptures states that God is
not a Man :
There are many different words for “man” in Hebrew, for brother Muhammad to try and say that God isn’t a man based on the limited scope of English is very fallible since a angel in both Hebrew and Greek is SHOWN IN THE BIBLE AS BEING A MAN. What does that mean, it means that an angel is a man but not a created human man. Muhammad is using the Islamic scope of Jesus was created by God and then trying to apply it to the Hebrew Bible.
"...say
to the Prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD: Because your heart is lifted up,
and you have said,"I am God, I sit at the seat of God, in the midst of the
seas!"YET YOU ARE A MAN, AND NOT GOD..." ( Ezekiel 28:2-8: )
"Will you say before him that kills
you, "I am God"? BUT YOU ARE A MAN AND NOT GOD ,in the hand of him who
kills you.You shall die the deaths of the uncircumcised,by the hand of
foreigners: for I have spoken it! " ( Ezekiel 28:9-10 )
God makes it quite clear to The Prince
of Tyre that he is not God because he is a man . he is in fact saying "
Prince of Tyre you say you are God yet your are not G-d BECAUSE YOU ARE A MAN.
PRINCE OF TYRE = MAN = NOT GOD .
To
the uneducated, this would seem like a good defense but however the Prince of
Tyre isn’t Jesus Christ. The Prince of
Tyre represent the evil ruler of Tyre as well as Satan who is operating through
him. These verses are from the KJV which Mr. Muhammad is using however the NKJV
is more accurate and is based on earlier manuscripts of the Bible. I should
know since I have the KJV, the NKJV, the NIV, the NLT, the NWT, the HEBREW and
GREEK Bible. Read what these verses say in the NKJV a more accurate bible than
the KJV.
Ezekiel 28:2- "Thus says the Lord GOD:
"Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, "I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,' Yet you are
a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a
god
The term elohim here is correctly translated as “god” and “gods” not God. This is the basic understanding of Jewish scriptures. Also Mr. Muhammad also purposely left out something by mistranslating the verse of Ezekiel 28, this would’ve refuted his argument before he even got started. All translations of the Bible say I am A GOD, not God, as Mr. Muhammad tries to show in his out of context scripture reference. He then goes to the KJV for verses 9-10 to make us think that he got verse 2 from a credible bible. Muslims are very good at lying in trying to refute the Bible. The NASB, the most literal English Translation of the bible also refutes Mr. Muhammad
9"Will you still say, «I am a god,» In the presence of your slayer, Though you are a man and not God, In the hands of those who wound you?
Notice that the scripture literal translated in the NASB shows that this is referring to a god and not GOD.
God
says he is not a man nor the "son of man" :
" I will not execute the fierceness
of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I AM GOD, AND NOT MAN;
the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city".
(Hosea 11:9 )
Christians
know that God isn’t a normal created human man but however I thank Mr. Muhammad
for showing Hosea since Hosea also shows God as a speaker and then referring to
another person as God. The prophet Hosea recorded Yahweh (from verse 2) as
saying:
"But I will have compassion on the house of
Judah and deliver them by [Yahweh] their God, and will not deliver them by bow,
sword, battle, horses, or horsemen." (Hosea 1:7)
If
I as the first person promise to do something for you as the second person
through a third person, am I not showing that I am not the same as the third
person? If grammar means anything, the answer is, "Yes". This is the exact case that we find here. We
will leave that up to Mr. Muhammad and other Muslims to explain to us how
someone who is first person can be the same as the third person.
When
Yahweh as the first person promised to deliver Israel as the second person by a
third person called Yahweh, what other conclusion can we logically come to than
that there are two persons each called Yahweh!!!
The
"classic" commentary on the Minor Prophets was written by E.B. Pusey.
He noted that the "Yahweh their God" through whom the deliverance
came was none other than the Angel of Yahweh when he "smote in one night
185,000 in the camp of the
Assyrians."(
E.B. Pusey's commentary book, The Minor Prophets, was republished in Barnes'
Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1965), Minor Prophets, 1:23.)
"GOD IS NOT A MAN, that he should lie ; NEITHER THE SON OF MAN that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Numbers 19:23)
As
we seen above, Elohim is plural for God but however El is used here which shows
that this is referring to just one person in the Godhead. All the verbs modify El in this verse are
singular but however, God is Elohim 3000 times compared to El which is only 300
times. Therefore this El just means one person of the eternal Godhead, while
Elohim can refer to all 3, this is strengthened by these upcoming example.
The
authors of the Bible used plural words for God. The plural form of El is elohim which is the most frequently used
word for "God" in the Bible (i.e., Gen. 1:1).
The
word elohim is translated as "gods" over four hundred times in the
Bible. That it is a true plural is seen from the fact that it has plural verbs
and plural adjectives modifying it. Several examples will suffice to
demonstrate this point:
1. In Genesis 20:13a, we read:
And it came about, when God caused me to wander from
my father's house...
The
divine name is elohim and the verb which modifies it is hit`u (cause to
wander) which is the plural form of ta`u. It literally is translated,
"When they, i.e., God, caused me to wander from my father's
house." You see my friends when
you have plural verbs and plural subjects, the sentences shows a plural
deity. The translators of the Bible
don’t do this because English is an Anglo-Saxon language and it doesn’t hold
the same effect as the Hebrew language.
Also they know that all true Christians are Trinitarians so there is no
use for this.
2. In Genesis 35:7 we read literally,
"They, i.e., God, revealed themselves to him."
The
verb niglu (revealed) is the plural form of gla and modifies
elohim (God). If we see the word They,
which is plural here, then obviously there isn’t just a single numerical ONE
God. But a unit which covers more than one who is working as ONE.
3. The word elohim in Exodus 21:6; 22:7-8, 27-28
refers to the "judges" of Israel. It is impossible to
deny the composite nature of these judges.
This
same word Elohim, which is plural is used at a ratio of 10:1 for God. What does that say? It clearly says that God
is a Plural being who is the ONLY GOD in existence.
4. In Deuteronomy 4:7 we read: ...
The
word qrovim (coming near) in Deut. 4:7 is a plural form of the word qarav
and modifies elohim.
5. In Joshua 24:19 the word qdoshim
("holy") is a plural adjective which modifies elohim and
literally translated, "God, i.e., the Holy Ones."
6. David said in Psalm 58:11 (v.12 in Heb.):
Surely there is a God who judges on earth!
David
used the verb shephmim "judges" in its plural form. A
literal translation would be, "They, i.e., God, who judges
the earth." Besides the plural
noun elohim and all its plural modifiers, the authors of the Bible used other
plural nouns as well:
1. The second most popular name for God in the Old Testament is Adonai (i.e., "Lord") which is a plural noun. Thus, the two most frequently used names for God elohim and adonai in the Hebrew Bible are both plural nouns. This is not what we would expect if God were a Unitarian. But it is exactly what we would expect to see if God was multi-personal.
2.
Job 35:10 refers to God as the "Makers" of mankind. The
word `sa (Makers) is a plural participle of `asah.
3.
In Psalm 149:2, we read:
Let Israel be glad in his Maker; Let
the sons of Zion rejoice in their King.
David
uses the masculine plural b`osay "Makers" to refer to the God
of Israel. What Unitarian would ever speak of God as his
"Makers"? Only Trinitarians do this. Which again refutes Mr.
Muhammad’s claim about the Tenach not teaching the Plurality of God and the
Trinity.
4. Ecclesiastes 12:1 tells us ... ("Remember
now your Creators"). The word ... ("Creators") “bara”
is a masculine plural participle.
5. Isaiah 54:5 speaks of God as the
"Makers" of Israel. The word "Makers" in the
Hebrew is ... which is a plural
participle.
The
Trinitarian has no problem whatsoever understanding how God can be described in
the Bible as both the "Maker" and
"Makers"
of the universe at the same time because the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit were are involved in the work of creation. But the Unitarian is hard put
to explain why the Bible speaks of a plurality of Creators. Maybe Mr. Muhammad
and all to other Muslims can provide us with a good explanation. What do we see from these examples, dealing
with Numbers 23:19, it is referring to God the Father, since we clearly see in
the literal translation of the Hebrew text that God is often than not spoken
about in the plural.
"And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for HE IS NOT A MAN, that he should repent." (1st Samuel 15:29)
We know
that Israel isn’t a man but a nation but as we seen from above, and will
continue to see below, there was a member of the Godhead who was a man.
Jesus uses the expression "Son of Man" 81 times in the Christian Scriptures and Christians believe Jesus was "god incarnate man" .God Forbid ! or as the Muslims say "Astagfer'Allah"
Jesus
was called THE SON OF GOD AS WELL AS THE SON OF MAN, not “A” son of God nor “A”
son of man. Which Numbers 23:19 talks about.
The definite article “THE” sets apart a person place or thing. It shows that this person place or thing is
unique and is different from everything else. Notice that Jesus used the term
THE Son of Man not A son of Man. As shown from these examples:
Matthew 26:1-2, "When Jesus had finished all
these sayings, He said to His disciples, 'You know that after twodays the
Passover is coming, and THE SON OF MAN will
be delivered up to be crucified."
Mark 8:31, "He began to teach them that THE SON OF MAN must suffer many things,
and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and
after three days rise again."
Mark 9:31, "For He was teaching His disciples
and saying to them, 'THE SON OF MAN will be delivered into the hands of men, and they
will kill Him, and when He is killed, after three days He will rise."
Mr.
Muhammad nor any other Muslim can find anywhere in the Bible where someone else
is called THE SON OF MAN. There is a big difference in “A” and “The” only if Muslims pick up a dictionary and
read.
"Jesus of Nazareth, a "MAN APPROVED BY God" among you by miracle and wonders and signs,WHICH G-D DID BY HIM in the midst of you" (Acts 2:22)
The author of Acts 2:22 in the Christian
scriptures refers to Jesus as a " man approved by God" .
Based upon the passages cited earlier
from the Tenach that clearly state God is not a man nor the
son of man we must conclude Jesus ( a
man) is not God .
Apparently
Mr. Muhammad is trying to think that I forgot about this idea, I answered this
longtime ago on “What did the Bible truly say about Jesus”. Note my dear reader, Muslims are the
greatest liars on earth, they love to ask you questions and then ignore the
answers and try and post the same material again to try and claim that you
never answered it. Read verses 34-35:
For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he
said, "`The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make
your enemies a footstool for your feet."
This
is reference to Psalms 110:1. In order
for Jesus to be David’s lord and sitting at the right hand of God Jesus had to
be preexistent and wasn’t just a normal human man. Read what Jesus said about
himself.
John
5:17-18 –
“But Jesus answered them, My father has been working
until now, and I have been working. Therefore
the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath
but also said that God was HIS FATHER, making himself EQUAL WITH
GOD.” Literally, “His own
Father”-Greek- patera idion. It is
clear that the Jews understood that Jesus was claiming to be God.’” (NKJV,
footnote, pg 843, Scoffield, 1989).
Therefore
Mr. Muhammad can’t charge us with claiming to promote Jesus to God since Jesus
did it himself.
The Children of Israel were and still
are to this day an "iconoclastic" people, i.e. they forbid the making
of images of any living thing - due to the fact it is prohibited by the
Commandments .
Lets see what the Tenach says about
"Images" in relationship to worship :
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is
in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." (Exodus
20:4-6)
"Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and
make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or
female", (Deuteronomy 4:16)
Mr.
Muhammad seems to be confused because this clearly talks about idols, notice
the word “graven image” this always refer to wooden or stone images, much like
the Kaaba of Islam. For us to accept
this argument we would have to think that Jesus was a stone or wooden
idol. Muslims should be real careful
because this can be used against them.
"Take
heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which
he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing,
which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee." (Deuteronomy 4:23)
"Thou shalt not make thee any
graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is
in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth "
(Deuteronomy 5:8 )
Once
again note the word GRAVEN IMAGE, Jesus wasn’t a stone idol or some deity made
with human hands so Mr. Muhammad is attacking a strawman argument.
"Thou,
even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens,
with all their host,
the earth, and all things that are
therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all;
and the host of heaven worshippeth
thee" (Nehemiah 9:6)
Now
read this:
Proverbs 30:4- Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the
waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What
is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know!
We see that God establishes the ends of the earth and that he also has a son (singular) not sons which shows why Jesus is called God’s (only begotten) Son.
"Ye
shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image,
neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it:
for I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 26:1)
According to the Tenach God's
"Image " is nothing like anything "in the heavens above or in
the earth beneath" - i.e. nothing that the human mind can conceive. Jesus,
on the other hand, was, according to Christian belief, 100% God and 100% man -
and a "man" is something that has an image of a created thing.
According
to the Tenach a graven image is made by people and refers to stone and wooden
idols, not human beings so apparently Mr. Muhammad must think that a stone
images is the same as a human being!!!
Again
All of these points exclude the possibility of Jesus ( a man ) being God. The
possibility of the alleged "Incarnation" of God is eliminated by the
Tenach itself. It's really as simple as that.
Wrong
again we saw above that God does have a son, which refutes everything Mr.
Muhammad claims. How does he know about the Tenach when he probably has never
read it in his life!!!
Here
are some passages that express God's lordship and uniqueness :
"Hear, O Israel: The
Lord our God is One LORD:" (Deuteronomy 6:4)
"Ye are my witnesses, saith the
Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and
understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there
be after me. I am the Lord; and beside me there is no savior." (Isaiah
43:10-11)
"Know therefore this day, and
consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above,
and upon the earth beneath: there is
none else." (Deuteronomy 4:39)
"Thou shalt have no other gods
before me." (Exodus 20:3)
"For thou shalt worship no other
god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:"
(Exodus 34:14)
"That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else." (Isaiah 45:6)
"For thus saith the Lord that
created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he
hath established it, he created it not
in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is
none else." (Isaiah 45:18.)
Read:
Now
if Unitarians wrote the Bible like Muslims, and some Jews claim, then the word
for "one" in Hebrew would reflect just one absolute and solitary
person.
Out of all of the words for "one", the
only word that would prove beyond a doubt that God is just an absolute
"one" would be yachid. If this word is applied to God
(Elohim) in the O.T., then this would be a death sentence for the Trinitarian
believers. The word "yachid" means an absolute or solitary one.
(Francis Brown, S.R. Driver, and Charles Briggs, "A Hebrew and English
Lexicon of the Old Testament"; Oxford, Clarendon, 1966 pg. 402). This
word is never applied to God because "Elohim conveys both the unity of the
one God, and yet allows for the plurality of Divine Persons as expressed in the
historical Christian doctrine of the Trinity. It is unique to monotheistic
Israel and is not found in the language of any of her polytheistic, Semitic
neighbors (Jack B. Scott, S.V. "elohim", in Theological
Wordbook of the Old Testament, 2 vols:, Chicago, Moody Press, 1980, 1:44).
In Deuteronomy 6:4, the Shema, Echad
"STRESSES UNITY, WHILE RECOGNIZING DIVERSITY WITHIN THAT ONENESS"
(Herbert Wolf, S.V. "echad", Theological Wordbook of the Old
Testament, 1:30).
When
we turn to the Old Testament, what do we find? The writers of the Old Testament
never applied yachid to God. God is never described as a solitary person. If
this is the case why do Unitarians, especially Muslims try to tell Christians
that it's an error believing on the Trinity when the Hebrew Text, that they use
in their defense so much, shows God in the compound and not the single entity?
Some Christian Apologists contend that one of the Hebrew words used for God
"El'ohim" denotes plurality, therefore God is a Trinity and Jesus is
God .
The 2nd chapter of this article titled
"God's agent " will discuss the fact Moses , Abraham and Judges were
sometimes called "Elohim" and so were Angels who were acting as emissaries
or God's representatives to the children of Israel . But for now we will
discuss the general usage of the word "Elohim" and how it's used in
the Tenach.
The Hebrew word "Elohim" when
applied to God is usually in the plural to denote a sense of majesty, dignity,
power or excellence, and is accompanied by the verb, adjective and pronoun in
the singular.
Elohim
isn’t a plural of majesty like Mr. Muhammad claims lets look at his comments in
more detail
In "The International Standard
Bible Encyclopedia", Vol II, p.1265, comments :
"It is characteristic of Hebrew
that extension, magnitude and dignity, as well as actual multiplicity, are
expressed by the plural. It is not reasonable therefore, to assume that
plurality of form indicates
primitive Semitic polytheism. On the
contrary historic Hebrew is unquestionably and uniformly monotheistic."
This
doesn’t prove that there is a plural of Majesty it is telling us that the
Plural expressed forms of God are still in line with monotheism, which
ironically agrees with the Trinity belief. By trying to disprove the Trinity,
Mr. Muhammad just refuted his whole argument.
Eerdmans
Bible Dictionary p. 331 Eerdmans Publishers, p. 331 edited by Allen C. Myers,
William B. comments :
"As a name or designation of the
God of Israel, the term is understood as a plural of majesty or an
intensive plural, indicating the
fullness of the supreme (or only) God ... the canonical intent is clearly
monotheistic, even where the accompanying verbs or adjectives are grammatically
plural (e.g. Gen.
20:13, Exod. 22:9 [Mt 8])"
There
is just one problem with this, The Plural of Majesty is just a suggestion and
not a fact read all this information on the plural of Majesty:
The
only problem with this argument is that there was no plural of majesty in the
Hebrew language during biblical times. Rabbi
Tzvi
Nassi, a lecturer in Hebrew at Oxford University, explains:
Every one who is acquainted with the rudiments of
the Hebrew and Chaldee languages, must know that God, in the holy Writings,
very often spoke of Himself in the plural. The passages are numerous, in which,
instead of a grammatical agreement between the subject and predicate, we meet
with a construction, which some modern grammarians, who possess more of
the so-called philosophical than of the real knowledge of the Oriental
languages, call a pluralis excellentiae. This helps them out of every apparent
difficulty. Such a pluralis excellentiae was, however, a thing unknown to Moses
and the prophets. Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, David, and all the other
kings, throughout TeNaKh (the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa) speak in
the singular, and not as modern kings in the plural. They do not say we, but I,
command; as in Gen. xli. 41; Dan. iii. 29; Ezra i. 2, etc.( Tzvi Nassi, The Great
Mystery (Jerusalem: Yanetz, 1970), 6.)
Sometimes
God refers to himself in the plural "we" or "us" when he
addresses Moses , his heavenly hosts , or the Children of Israel . Yet God does
not always speak in the first person plural. In Gen 2:18 for example :
"Then the Lord God said , "It
is not good that the man should be alone, I will make a helper fit for
him"
When Kings or Queens make a proclamation , they say "We, the Queen of England...". Monarchs through out the world have always addressed themselves before their subjects using what is known as the "PLURALIS EXCELLENTIAE" (Plural of Excellence) or "MAIESTATIS" (of Majesty)
There
is one problem with this usage, if you go and look in the grammar books that
deal with the plural of Majesty, you will see that the the subjects must always
agree, For example the plural of majesty is ALWAYS “WE” AND “US”, OR
“OUR”. The plural of Majesty never has
the word “I” speak for us, etc. Mr.
Muhammad nor the people he copied his outdated information from can’t even show
you one example of this. Infact the
plural of Majesty is a century old hoax.
Read:
During the nineteenth century debates between
Unitarians and Trinitarians, the principle of pluralis majestaticus was
revealed to be a hoax popularized by the famous Jewish scholar Gesenius.
It became clear that he used it as a ruse de guerre against Christianity.
The fundamental error resided in the attempt to take a modern monarchical idiosyncrasy and read it back into an ancient text when such an idiosyncrasy was unknown at that time. Richard Davies in 1891 pointed out, "Indeed, this royal style is unknown in Scripture."( Richard Davies, Doctrine of the Trinity (New York: Cranston & Stowe, 1891), 227.
One must ask Mr. Muhammad this question, since when is a English usage correct for a Semitic language?
In Semitic usage, it is customary for
one in authority to speak of himself in the plural. For example in 2nd Samuel
16:19-21 :
"...Hushai said to Absalom, "No,
the one chosen by the Lord, by these people, and by all the men of
Israel--his I will be, and I will remain
with him. Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not
serve the son? Just as I served your
father, so I will serve you." Absalom said to Ahithophel, "GIVE US
your advice. What should WE DO?" Ahithophel answered, "Lie with your
father's concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel
will hear that you have made yourself a stench in your father's nostrils, and
the hands of everyone with you will be strengthened."
This
is false when one reads the context with these verses, which Mr. Muhammad seems
to try and hide, since he is obviously a liar. Read verses 17-23:
17 Absalom asked Hushai, "Is this
the love you show your friend? Why didn't you go with your friend?"
18 Hushai said to Absalom, "No,
the one chosen by the LORD, by these people, and by all the men of Israel--his
I will be, and I will remain with him.
19 Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not
serve the son? Just as I served your father, so I will serve you."
20 Absalom said to Ahithophel, "Give us
your advice. What should we do?"
21 Ahithophel answered, "Lie with your father's
concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear
that you have made yourself a stench in your father's nostrils, and the hands
of everyone with you will be strengthened."
22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom
on the roof, and he lay with his father's concubines in the sight of all
Israel.
23 Now in those days the advice Ahithophel gave was
like that of one who inquires of God. That was how both David and Absalom
regarded all of Ahithophel's advice.
When we read this passage with some content we see that US refers to ABSALOM AND HUSHAI!!! Both of these two were there talking to each other before Absalom began to talk with Ahithophel!! Notice how verse 23 says that THEY pitched a tent for Absalom. This shows that Absalom and Hushai were the “THEY” who pitched the tent as well as the “US” who needed the advice. Also notice how Absalom before speaking to Ahithophel said “I” and not “WE”, which refutes the plural of Majesty because it always refers to “US” and “WE” and “OUR” etc.
Even
though the Hebrew word "Elohim" is plural in form, it can be singular
in meaning. as in Judges
13:21-22 where one angel is seen but is
referred to as "'Elohim" in the Hebrew text :
I
am so glad that Mr. Muhammad was foolish enough to bring up this passage
because here is where it gets interesting. Read Judges 13:3-23-
3 And the Angel of the LORD appeared
to the woman and said to her, "Indeed now, you are barren and have borne
no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
4 Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine
or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean.
5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And
no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God
from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the
Philistines."
6 So the woman came and told her husband, saying,
"A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the
countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He
was from, and He did not tell me His name.
7 And He said to me, "Behold, you shall
conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything
unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of
his death."'
8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, "O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born."
9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and
the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the
field; but Manoah her husband was not with her.
10 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband,
and said to him, "Look, the Man who came to me the other day
has just now appeared to me!"
11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he
came to the Man, he said to Him, "Are You the Man who spoke to this
woman?" And He said, "I am."
12 Manoah said, "Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy's rule of life, and his work?"
In
explaining the first half of this passage, we see that THE ANGEL OF YAHWEH
(LORD) appeared to the woman. This same
Angel appeared to Moses in Exodus and he calls himself the GOD OF ABRAHAM,
ISAAC AND JACOB. Notice that the woman calls THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND
JACOB (THE ANGEL OF THE LORD) a man!!!! Also notice that in Numbers 23:19 it
doesn’t say that Yahweh is not a man but EL which just refers to just one
person on the Godhead. No other angel
in the entire bible is called THE ANGEL OF YAHWEH or THE ANGEL OF GOD! The
definite article “the” differentiates him from “a”!! Also this angel was the
only angel to ever call himself THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB, unlike any
other angel. The scriptures in this
passage also shows that this is God because look at verse 8 and 9. Here we see that Manoah prayed to Yahweh
(LORD) to send the Angel of God, then in verse 9 we see that GOD LISTENED TO
THE VOICEOF MANOARH AND THE ANGL OF GOD CAME TO THE WOMAN!!! In the bible God
always differentiates when he sends someone else. But we don’t see at all about
God sending someone else (a regular angel) but we see that this Angel of Yahweh
(also known as the Angel of God) listened and then came. Note how the text
shows that this was God who listened without showing that God sent a regular
angel. Also note the words “I AM” mentioned here also, this is the same words
that this angel spoke to Moses!!
13 So the Angel of the LORD said to
Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.
14 She may not eat anything that comes from the
vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All
that I commanded her let her observe."
15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You."
16 And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah,
"Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a
burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD." (For Manoah did not know
He was the Angel of the LORD.)
17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD,
"What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor
You?"
18 And the Angel of the LORD said to him,
"Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?"
19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on
20 it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.
21 When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to
Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD.
22 And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall
surely die, because we have seen God!"
23 But his wife said to him, "If the LORD
had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain
offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would
He have told us such things as these at this time."
Now lets look at the second half closely. We see that the Angel of Yahweh is talking to Manoah, then he tells them to offer a burnt offering. Note: it was to be offered only to the LORD or Yahweh. In the Hebrew Bible we see that Manoah didn’t know that He was the Angel of Yahweh, which shows that this Angel of Yahweh and Yahweh are both the same person!!! If they weren’t then why mention this matter when the Bible already showed that this Angel was the Angel of God? In verse 21 we see that Manoah recognized this Angel as the Angel of Yahweh because of his actions on the altar. Manoah said that WE HAVE SEEN GOD. Note Mr. Muhammad’s comments on this:
"But
the angel ( Elohim ) of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife.
Then Manoah
knew that he was an angel of the Lord.
And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
"
In his
next comment Mr. Muhammad says that Elohim has a broad meaning which is true
however, look at what Manoah’s wife said “IF THE LORD (YAHWEH) HAD DESIRED TO
KILL US, HE WOULD NOT HAVE ACCEPTED A BURNT OFFERING…!! The only being who was
there and who accepted the offering was the ANGEL OF YAHWEH, who is called
YAHWEH, (THE PERSONAL NAME OF GOD HIMSELF) AS WELL AS BEING CALLED A
MAN!!!! THIS SAME BEING APPEARED TO
MOSES AND CALLED HIMSELF “THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB”!!! To show you
proof from the Quran that this was God that appeared and not just a normal
angel read this:
2.53 And remember We gave Moses the Scripture
and the Criterion (Between right and wrong): There was a chance for you to be guided
aright.
2.87 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. Is it that whenever there comes to you a messenger with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride?- Some ye called impostors, and others ye slay!
5.44 It was We who revealed the Torah (to Moses): therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by the prophets who bowed (as in Islám) to Allah's will, by the rabbis and the doctors of law: for to them was entrusted the protection of Allah's book, and they were witnesses thereto: therefore fear not men, but fear Me, and sell not My signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are unbelievers.
4.164 Of some messengers
We have already told thee the story; of others We have not;- and to Moses Allah spoke
direct;-
Very interesting, even the Quran shows that God appeared directly to Moses, but yet in this scripture of Exodus 3:2-6
"And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned
with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn
aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the
LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of
the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not
nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou
standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face;
for he
was afraid to look upon God."
We see that God WAS THE ANGEL OF YAHWEH!!! Read this about the Angel of Yahweh:
ANGEL OF THE LORD-An oft-recurring phrase in the O.T., usually referring to a deity and yet distinguished from Jehovah. ("Handy Dictionary of the Bible"-by Merrill C. Tenney, 1965, pg. 9)
Angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord, sometimes the angel of 'God' or 'my' (or 'his') angel; is represented in scripture as a HEAVENLY being sent by God to deal with men as his personal agent and spokesman. In many passages he is virtually identified with God and speaks not merely in the name of God, BUT AS GOD IN THE FIRST PERSON SINGULAR...He is not recognized at once in Jdg. 13:3ff, and is not even visible to Balaam (Nu. 22:22ff); but mostly when appearing to men he is recognized as a DIVINE BEING, even though in human form, and is addressed as God (Gn. 16:13,etc.). (Tyndale, "New Bible Dictionary" 2nd Edition, 1982 [there were at least 3 editors of this book with Ph.d's]).
For centuries the angel of the Lord has been known as God, but yet separate from him as well as having the ability to appear in human form. Nowhere in the Bible (Old or New Testament) has any angel or any prophet spoke the God's words as their own without using phrases like "thus said the lord." The only one who did this was God and Christ.
An angel is a messenger that is sent by God (i.e. Gabriel or Michael). Angels have never identified themselves as God nor have they claimed God's words as their own. An angel is a divine man, not a human created man. In contrast, the Angel of the
Lord is a special case. Now if God said that he won’t share his glory with no other, then this angel from Yahweh was simply God also, since you didn't hear any warning talking against him in the Old Testament. Which is ironic because all false deities and worship had warnings from God. Now getting back to the matter at hand. If we see that Allah spoke to Moses directly (the only place this happened was at the burning bush) as the Quran claims then this clearly shows that Allah is a man, which refutes everything in the Quran about Allah not having partners, since this Angel of Yahweh who is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was clearly a separate being from Yahweh the Father!!! If Mr. Muhammad along with the illiterate Prophet of Hajj Allah could read then he would’ve never made this glaring mistake!!! Now here is the good part, in verse 17, Manoah asked the Angel of Yahweh his name. And the angel revealed it to him. He said his name was WONDERFUL!!!!
18 And the Angel of the
LORD said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?"
Compare this,
Isaiah 9:6-7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
In verse 18 of Judges 13 we see that the ANGEL OF YAWHEH (WHO WAS THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB) revealed his name to Manoah!!! This word for Wonderful in Judges 13:18 is “Pil'iy” and it’s first definition is 1.wonderful, incomprehensible, extraordinary. The word for Wonderful in Isaiah 9:6 is “Pele'” which is the Noun form of the Adjective in Judges 13:18!!!! Both are from the same word verb form “Pala'” The defintion of Pele is also Wondeful!!! In Judges 13:18, the Angel of Yahweh told Manoah that his name is secret, the other meaning of this word “Piliy but yet by telling him that his name was secret he was actually telling him his NAME!!! In Isaiah 9:6, all Christians and orthodox Muslims know that this verse refers to Jesus the Messiah. This shows that Jesus was the Angel of Yahweh who was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob which spoke to Moses and led the Hebrews before is incarnation!! So by rejecting Jesus as God both Muslim and Jews are rejecting the one that their own religions try to talk about!!!
Further,
the Hebrew word "Elohim" had a broad meaning and was sometimes even
used when referring to false gods . (unlike another Hebrew word that was used
specifically for God but never uttered due to its sacredness "YHWH" )
For example :
1 Samuel 5:7 (Dagon - was not a Trinity
and yet is called "Elohim");
What
Mr. Muhammad seems to not realize was that Elohim is plural when referring to
God, and is just a generic term in referring to other false Gods in the case of
Dagon, this deity was a god in 3 of the same cultures, Assyria, the Hittites
along with the Phonecians. Although
being idenfied as Dagan he had different characteristics in those cultures, so
the term elohim would be good to apply to him since this covers all of his god
deity forms in this ancient cultures. Normally false gods are more than one
deity (meaning that they are different versions of the same deity) therefore
elohim which is plural is the best way to count all of them.
1 Kings 11:5 ("goddess" Ashtoreth - was not a Trinity and yet she is called "Elohim");
Ashtoreth
was Allat, Ishtar along with countless other goddesses at the same time so true
she wasn’t a trinity but more like a whole pantheon to herself, which shows why
elohim, which is plural would be used.
Daniel 1:2 ( Marduk was not a Trinity
and yet is called "Elohim").
Men and judges were also called
"Elohim " :
* Abraham is called (Elohim)
Marduk,
was Baal, Hadad as well as the forerunner of Allah, so elohim, which is plural
would also be necessary since it is obvious that this deity is a variety of
false gods, even at the same time in many different cultures. Also Christians
and Jews already know that elohim means judges, but the content determines the
meaning of the word. No judge was ever called Yahweh either like the Angel of
Yahweh!! Until Mr. Muhammad can find us one in the bible that is then he has no
case.
"I
am an alien and a stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site
here so I can bury my dead." The Hittites replied to Abraham,"Sir,
listen to us. You are a mighty prince (Elohim ) among us. Bury your dead in the
choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your
dead." (Genesis 23:4-6)
This
is another erroneous claim by Mr. Muhammad because prince isn’t Elohim and
never was Elohim. Prince is “Nasiy'” and its definition is 1.one lifted up,
chief, prince, captain, leader & 2.rising mist, vapour. This is another
bogus claim that is found on a lot of Islamic sites which lie and distort the
truth about the bible.
Moses is called (Elohim) in Exodus 7:1.
"Then the Lord said to Moses,
"See, I have made you "like" God ( Elohim ) to Pharaoh, and your
brother Aaron will be your prophet."
The word "like" in the
Christian English translation of Exodus 7:1 is a mistranslation . The word
"like" isn't in the Hebrew Text . It actually reads :
" ... I have made you God ( Elohim
) to Pharaoh ..."
This issue will be discussed in the 2nd
chapter of this article titled " God's agents " .
Judges in Exodus 21:6 are also called
(Elohim.)
As
mentioned earlier, all learned Jews and Christians know that elohim was used
for Moses, but term here is rendered as a judge. Moses nor the Judges in Exodus were called Yahweh!!! I don’t know
why Muslims still try to use this claim especially in cases like this, the
content determines the meaning. Mr.
Muhammad’s reasoning is very characteristic of unlearned people of the
scripture.
"Then
his master must take him before the judges (Elohim ) He shall take him to the
door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his
servant for life."
The Ancient Greek translation of the
Jewish Scriptures known as the "Septuagint" translates
"'Elohim" as "ho-Theos" (i.e. the God).
"ho-Theos" is singular .
The Christian argument that the Jewish
Scriptures supports the Christian Trinity is an erroneous assumption .
As
we seen above, this claim holds absolutely no weight when one goes beyond the
surface. The Jewish scriptures support
the Trinity 100%. However there was no
need to have God fully reveal himself due to the fact that the Jews were still
struggling to rid themselves of other false deities that crept in. God even mentions in the Bible a few times
that he didn’t fully reveal himself to earlier generations so if Mr. Muhammad
actually sit down and read the bible he wouldn’t repeat these neophyte
questions.
(It's
good to have a Hebrew Key Study Bible or Hebrew concordance in order to get
passed any bad English translations . The reason this Article uses the
Christian KJV is due to the fact many Christians don't recognize any other
translation of the Hebrew Bible . Nevertheless mistranslation are common in the
KJV and this booklet will try its best to single out these mistranslations . The
most accurate translation in our opinion is the JPS version and the best
Christian translation of the Hebrew text is the RSV .alothough even the RSV has
some problems also. )
This
again is the argument of a neophyte since any sane learned Christian knows that
the RSV bible isn’t the best traslation of the Hebrew text, the NKJV, the NSRV
and the NASB, and even the NIV in some instances, exceed the RSV bible!!! I
should know since I have about 10 bibles including the Hebrew and Greek text
along with Hebrew concordances, dictionaries, Greek dictionaries, etc. Also may
Christians recognize other translations of the Bible. Mr. Muhammad must to have
forgotten this since modern Day Muslims use this silly argument of “too many
bible versions” to say that Christians corrupted the Bible when infact English
wasn’t even the language the Bible was revealed in!!!
God's Agent
The Role of an Agent in Judaism
When a person is sent by a higher authority
to represent them ,this person is referred to as being that higher authority.
An example of this would be an agent or emissary of a king who has been sent to
represent the king. This principle is
absolutely necessary to understand. For instance when God
sends an angel on a mission that angel
will be referred to as God .
This
is highly false because in Exodus 6:2-3 we see that the Angel of Yahweh was
referred to as God himself and that Yahweh is only the name of God.
God spoke further to Moses and said to him, "I
am Yahweh (YHVH) and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty; BUT
BY MY NAME, YAHWEH, I did not make myself known to them." Exodus
6:2-3
Notice that God mentions his own personal name specifically and then he says that he didn’t make himself known to earlier generations like he did with Moses, which clearly shows us that God more openly reveals himself over time, which explains whey the Trinity is more openly taught in the N.T. due to the fact that it was God’s final revelation to men!!!
In
Genesis 18 when Abraham intercedes for Sodom with the angels they are referred
to as the Lord.
Some Christians say this was an
appearance of Jesus before his birth,yet the Tenach doesn't support this
interpretation . One must always return to the foundational document .The text
clearly states they
are angels-messengers not a human being
( man ) or the "Messiah" .
This
is great support because LORD is Yahweh In Hebrew and the other 2 men are
mentioned as Lord which is adona, which refers to men!!!! What has clearly been
understood is that YAHWEH along with 2 angels appeared to Abraham. Apparently Mr. Muhammad thinks that
Christians are so stupid and that they will accept this argument, when all we
have to do is study the Hebrew text itself.
In
Exodus 11:4, 12:12 and 13 it states that God will execute the plague of the
Firstborn. However, In Exodus 12:23 it states the Destroyer (angel of death)
will not enter the house. Could this angel be G-d ? Absolutely not !. When G-d
sends someone on a mission that person is referred to as being the Lord. Yet
the Jews clearly understood it was not God "incarnate".
That
isn’t difficult to understand. Mr.
Muhammad is confusing LORD “Yahweh” with “adona” which makes it easy to refute
his claim. Of course the Jews wouldn’t
think that this is God incarnate since this angel of Death isn’t called Yahweh,
like the Angel of Yahweh who was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The following excerpts from ancient
rabbinical writings will bear this out :
"One must not call himself by the
name of a mortal king, Caesar or Augustus, for if one assumed his
name he would be executed (for treason);
yet God called Moses by His own name, as it says:
Behold, I have made thee God unto
Pharaoh. God
said to Moses: 'The wicked Pharaoh has
made himself out to be a god, as it says: My river is mine own, and I have made
it for myself (Ezek. XXIX, 3); let him, therefore see thee and say: "This
is God"' (Midrash Rabbah Exodus VIII.)
Now you know why the Midrash isn’t inspired by God like the O.T. Since God says in the Bible BY MY NAME YAHWEH, not Elohim, etc. Apparently this Jew seems to mix up God’s name. Any Jew or Christian would take the O.T. over the Midrash.
Some
Christian translations of the Tenach in Exodus 7:1 where God calls Moses a god
(Elohim) add the word "like" or "as" a god to pharaoh . The
words "like" or "as" are not in the Hebrew text . The
translators added "like" or "as" to support their opinion
of what the verse should say. The word they are translating "god" is
"Elohim" . This word is usually translated "God" or
"judge". We can tell from the context in verse one that it should be
translated "God" because Aaron is to be his prophet. A judge does not
have a prophet. Is Moses God ? No!
There
is no rule in the Hebrew language that claims that Elohim should always be
translated as God. Mr. Muhammad seems to be a victim of the English
translation, since the term for Moses here is Judge. Also he says that a judge doesn’t have a prophet, Saul had a
prophet called Samuel, so I don’t see Mr. Muhammad’s great point. Also If he is so sure that this should be
translated as God, surely he could’ve went and got some cite evidence from a
credible Jewish source to prove this other than the obvious erroneous claim made
by the Rabbi in the Midrash.
The thought that Moses was God because
he was Called "Elohim " and had Aaron as his prophet never occurred
in Judaism.
See Midrash Rabbah Exodus II. 6 page 57;
VIII. 1 page 115, and Midrash Rabbah Numbers XV.
13. these are ancient rabbinical
expositions on the Hebrew Scriptures .
" ....And He ( God ) spoke to
Israel again and said: "I have imparted my glory to the judges and called
them Elohim, and they condemn them. Woe unto the generation that judges its
judges!" (Midrash Rabbah Ruth I, 1 page 3)
Mr.
Muhammad just refuted himself because in the Midrash passage used, we clearly
see that Elohim means Judges. Note how it says I have imparted my glory on the
judges… called them Elohim, and they condemn them. Then it says after that WOE UNTO TO GENERATION THAT JUDGES ITS
JUDGES!! Elohim clearly means judges
because it is the only word referring to those who were being condemned and
judged!!
Angels
who are sometimes called "Elohim " in the Tenach are also referred to
as "man" or "men" :
There
are no angels in the Bible called Elohim except THE ANGEL OF YAHWEH. Also I mentioned a zillion times that Angels
also refer to men. This isn’t anything new.
"The angel of the L-rd appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines." Then the woman went to her husband and told him, "A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name. " (Judges 13:3-6)
This
was discussed in greater detail above, this Angel is the Same Angel that
appeared to Moses, he is also called Yahweh in this passage, see above in this
paper.
Notice how from the woman's perspective she sees a "man of God " yet we know from reading verse 3 that this "man of God " is the Angel of the Lord . In the Christian Bible ( Luke 24:4) an angel is referred to as a man .
OOH
now we want to use Luke 24:4, but however in Luke 24:4 these angels are never
called THE ANGEL OF YAHWEH, so again Mr. Muhammad is attacking a strawman.
Angels were sometimes called "God" or "Lord" but as we just saw sometimes those same angels are called men . Are angels gods or men ? they're neither God nor men they're angels . They're agents , messengers of God who carry the authority of God as a deputy carries the authority of the state .
Since
Mr. Muhammad freely admits that Angels were called men I wonder what will be
his excuse once he sees that the Angel of Yahweh who is the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob is being referred to as a man?
Christianity is not consistent when it comes to choosing who is God. They have chosen Jesus to be God . But what about all the other places it states there are other " Elohim " like Abraham , Moses, Angels and Judges ?
Judaism is consistent. There is only one
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who created the world
and prophets , judges and angels are his
special agents .
The
reason why Mr. Muhammad is because Abraham, Moses and other angels were ever
called YAHWEH OR THE ANGEL OF YAHWEH, nor MIGHTY GOD!!! Also Since you admit
that Judaism is consistent and that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob created
the earth, then you just refuted yourself because it was the ANGEL OF YAHWEH
WHO FIRST CLAIMED TO BE THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB. And get this, he
was a man!!!
The
Jews didn't believe God would ever become flesh . If God was to become flesh
the prophets would have revealed this fact to the people in lengthy discussions
and thus prepare them to accept and worship a god of flesh . There aren't any
such discussions in all of Tenach. This alone is enough to prove Jesus is not
God incarnate. Nothing else is needed.
Wrong
again read these examples:
2 Samuel 7:12-14"When your days are fulfilled
and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will
come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a
house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom
forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I
will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of
the LORD, make straight in the desert a
highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain
and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
rough places plain: And the glory
of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the
mouth of the LORD hath spoken it
It
says a voice of a man (John the Baptist is the only one who fits this
description in the Bible) will prepare the way of the Lord.
In vs.
5 it says that the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and that ALL FLESH SHALL
SEE IT. Look at it from a straight
unadulterated
translation from Hebrew-ISAIAH 40:5-AND HE WILL BE REAVEALED
glory of Yahweh and THEY will see all of Mankind together for MOUTH OF YAHWEH
HE SPOKE. (John R. Kohlenberger III-"The Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English
Old Testament"). In the Hebrew text the glory of Yahweh was seen and that
HE would be the very mouth of
Yahweh himself. These are just a few examples from the Hebrew Tenach.
Christians say :
Here is the Christian version of Isaiah
9:6-7(KJV):
"For unto us, a child is born, unto
us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace. "
The Reply is:
The Hebrew Tenach reads Isaiah 9:6-7 :
"For a child has been born to us, a
son has been given us. And authority has settled on his shoulders.
He has called (Pele-Joez-el-gibbor-abia-ad-Sar-Shalom)
"The Mighty God is planning grace, the Eternal Father, a peaceable
ruler" ( Masoritic Hebrew Text )
The first thing you might notice is the
difference in tenses. Jews translate it correctly as past tense.
This is not about interpretation. The
Christians have translated the passage incorrectly by bringing the whole verse
into the present tense. (Note: some Christian versions translate it incorrectly
by bringing it into the future tense .)
Wrong
again, the term “HAS BEEN GIVEN US” doesn’t exist in the Hebrew text. Also as
we seen earlier, Mighty God was used only for God himself, so whether Mr.
Muhammad thinks that it should be past present of future, he has yet to prove
that any other prophet, i.e, Moses, etc is called Mighty God. Also the Jews today claim that this verse
refer to the coming Messiah so one must ask Mr. Muhammad and his great Jewish
translators this question. How can it refer to the coming Messiah when it has
already occurred in the past like you claim? I’ll be real interested to find
out his answer to this.
Chapter
9 of Isaiah is about the fall of Assyria and the announcement of the birth of
Hezekiah. Isaiah 9:6-7 announces Hezekiah's rule, his ascending the throne.
Notice that it says "a child HAS been born to us".
This is an event that has just occurred,
not an event in the future. A future event would say " a child will be
born to us " but this is not what the verse says. Since the birth happened
in Ahaz's day, it could not refer to Jesus, who was born many hundreds of years
later.
If
this is the case like Mr. Muhammad claims who is the child then? Also how can
this so-called child be dead when the term everlasting father in this verse is
more literally translated as "Father of Eternity" since the word
"Father" is before "Eternity" in the Hebrew text. Compare
the next phrase, "Prince of Peace" where the same Hebrew construction
occurs. This translation indicates the Son is the origin of time (John 1:3). We
see Mr. Muhammad’s glaring mistakes relying on translations that he thinks is
correct just because they are Jewish without even searching them out.
More
importantly: if you look in the Hebrew text, you will see that the verb
'Vayikra' (and he called) is used here. 'Vayikra' does not mean 'and he shall
be called.' as the Christians mistranslate it . In ancient Hebrew, 'V'yikoray'
is the way to say 'and he will be called.' Whomever 'Vayikra' is speaking about
is the subject (the "do-er") of the verb, not the object (the
recipient) of the verb. If they wish to say that 'Vayikra' is speaking about
Jesus, Jesus must be the subject of the verb. Who was it that Jesus was to call
"Wonderful, ounselor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince
of Peace?"
Once
again Mr. Muhammad relies on false information the word here is “Qara” not
Vayikra and here are the definitions of this word:
1.to call, call out, recite, read, cry
out, proclaim
a.(Qal)
1.to call, cry, utter a loud sound
2.to call unto, cry (for help), call (with
name of God)
3.to proclaim
4.to read aloud, read (to oneself), read
5.to summon, invite, call for, call and commission,
appoint, call and endow
6.to call, name, give name to, call by
b.(Niphal)
1.to call oneself
2.to be called, be proclaimed, be read aloud,
be summoned, be named
c.(Pual) to be called, be named, be called
out, be chosen
By first mistranslating the word and then not knowing the full definition of it Mr. Muhammad would make silly comment such as those above. He says that this word doesn’t mean “he will be called” but when you look at the definition you see that it says “to be called” which refutes his false claims.
A Christian may ask : "what about
the words "from now to eternity? how can Hezekiah;s kingdom last forever ?
lets look at Exodus 21:5-6 :
"But if the bondsman shall say,
"I love my master, my wife, and my children -- I shall not go
free";[6] then his master shall bring him to the court and shall bring him
to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore through his ear with
the awl, and he shall serve him forever ( "ahd") . "
The word "forever" in the
Tenach is the Hebrew word "ahd" ( everlasting ) which can mean for
all eternity or for "a long time " depending upon the context .
Obviously a slave cant serve his master forever he will eventually die or be
set free . We know that Jewish slaves go free at the Jubilee year .
For
one thing, a kingdom is much different than a slave, this is another bogus
strawman argument by Mr. Muhammad the word here isn’t “ahd” but “ad” which
means 1.perpetuity, for ever, continuing future a.ancient (of past time)
b.for ever (of future time) 1.of
continuous existence c.for ever (of God's existence). The word for “forever” in Exodus 21:5-6 is
“owlam”, its first definition is long duration, antiquity,
futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient,
world. You have to go all the way to the 4th definition for it to
equal forever!!!! Since any sane person already knows that a slave doesn’t live
forever then this word obviously means long duration. It isn’t the same word
nor is it even from the same root word!!!! So this example only looks good on
the surface. For it to work Mr.
Muhammad must convince us that a slave lives forever!!
Hebrew names within a Cultural and Spiritual context .
Most Hebrew names contain the syllables
Ye (Je) ,Ya(Ja), El or Ab signifying God . For example :
Absalom : Father of peace
Abi'a : My Father is God
Ariel : Lion of God
El'asah : God created
Matityahu: gift of God (Translated
Matthew)
Elisha : to whom God is salvation
Joel : "Jehvah" is God
Yochanan : God is Loving
Jeremiah: Exalted by God
Ruachel : Spirit of God (Ruachel is
translated "Rachel" in English . )
Samuel: Name of God
Yihoshua : God is salvation ( Yihoshua
should be translated Joshua in english . Yet Christians translate Yihoshua as
"Jesus" since they translate from the Greek )
Some Christians find a secret/mystical
meaning in the name (Yihoshua/Joshua) and say :
" see Yihoshua is God incarnate his
name means " God is salvation" .
We
already know that there were tons of peoplw with the name of God in it, I
mentioned that a zillion times too, God in some cases even instructed his
followers to have these names. But Once again Mr. Muhammad has failed to prove
that these people were Yahweh or even divine! Also he shows his ignorance of
Hebrew by thinking the Christians confuse Joshua and Yihoshua since Jesus in
Hebrew is YESHUA!!!! Go read a Hebrew translation of the N.T. and you will
always see that Yeshua is the name of Jesus.
Using this same line of reasoning I can
say the Prophet Joshua/Yihoshua ( the one who lead the
people
after Moses ) in the Tenach is God incarnate.
Yihoshua/Joshua is a common Jewish name
even today among Jews and Gentiles . through out History there have been many
Yihoshuas including the Yihoshua who founded the essene sect years before the
Christian Yihoshua was born .
Yes
you can if you think that the reader is foolish enough to not know that Jesus
is Yeshua in Hebrew, unlike English this language has more than one term for
words!!!
How
many Rachels have you met or know now ? are they "The Spirit of God"
? . Id like to note that what Christians call the "Holy Spirit" is
translated in Hebrew as the "Ruach Hakodesh" .
Another
common fallacy by Mr. Muhammad since Rachel is just the English translation of
Rauchel, if you leave it like it is in the English alphabet it is Rauchel,
Rachel is just the closest English word that the translators could find. Rachel
in English doesn’t mean Spirit of God, but Rachel in Hebrew Does. Only someone
silly will buy this dumb argument.
Sons of God
Christians believe Jesus is the only Son
of God and this proves he is God Incarnate.
Lets go to the Tenach :
(The following verse is God talking to
David about Solomon):
" I will be His Father and he will
be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your
predecessor. (Chronicles 17:13)
Yet the Israelites will be like the sand
on the seashore, which can not be measured or counted. In
the place where it is said to them, 'You
are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God. (Hosea 1:10)
The kings of Israel are referred to as
Sons of God because they are to be His representatives, ruling
in his place on earth over His people.
Another
fallacy since Jesus is the only one called GOD’S ONLY BEGOTTEN SON! This word
for ONLY means MONOGENES in Greek and it means the only one of it’s kind. Therefore it anybody else is called a son of
God, it is just metaphorical since nobody except Jesus is called the ONLY
begotten son of God. Mr. Muhammad can
you show us anywhere in the Bible where someone other than Christ is called
Gods ONLY BEGOTTEN SON? Look at the definition of Monogenes:
Monogenes
Definition:
1.single of its kind, only a. used of only sons or
daughters (viewed in relation to their parents)
b.used of Christ, denotes the only begotten
son of God
If we see that this term is only used of Sons and Daughters I relations to their parents then this clearly tells us that Jesus was God’s only son, since this term is never used of any other so-called son in the bible.
"I
said, You are ELOHIM ; you are all sons of the Most High" (Psalm 82:6 )
Do we have too many gods yet?
This
term means judges and the Jews understood it that way even in Christ’s time,
read this:
30 I and the Father are one."
31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him,
32 but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many
great miracles from the Father.For which of these do you stone me?"
33 "We are not stoning you for any of
these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because
you, a mere man, claim to be God."
Now if Jesus was referring to a Judge then why would the Jews stone him for this? Notice a Judge is just a mere man but the Jews said that Jesus was a mere man and that he was claiming to be God Almighty!!! Therefore Mr. Muhammad’s weight about trying to claim that Psalms 82:6 means God instead of Judge holds no weight, and also, this is evident even more after he mistranslates the Hebrew words for everlasting, etc.
In
ancient rabbinical writing Midrash Rabbah Ruth I, 1, page 3 discusses this
verse and there is no
understanding that this is to be taken
literally. Again the Jews are being consistent. Why does not Christianity
select this verse to be literal? Obviously from the above verses there are many
sons of God and it does not make them God.
Once
again if Muhammad knew what he was talking about then I could agree, but in
light of all the evidence above we see that he doesn’t know what he is talking
about. Yes there are many sons of God
but there is only ONE ONLY (MONOGENES) BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD. This isn’t nothing new and I addressed this
months ago.
Many
Christians are unaware of the fact that it was not unusual for a Jew to call
God "Father" in Yihoshua's ( Joshua "Jesus") Era . This
Term later became distinct Christian usage .Talmudic literature is full of
examples to the designation of God as Father :
".....What shall I do when my
heavenly Father hath so commanded me ? (Sifra to Lev; Qedoshim 20,26)
"....Since I have done the will of
Abba (Father) who is in the Heavens "(Lev R para 32)
"......These buffetings have made
me Love my heavenly father" (Midr.Tehillim 12:5)"
"I will exalt the lord saying 'thou
art my father" (ibid 51:10)
"Beloved are Israel for they are
called Sons of the Highest" (Aboth 3:3)
We
aren’t unaware of this as Muhammad claims because calling God father is found
in Psalms!!! Why would we be unaware of something that we have known for
thousands of years? I’ll leave that to Muhammad to answer for us.
If
Yihoshua used the term "Abba " as the Christian claim then it was in
the same sense in which it is used in the Talmudic literature.To claim that he
was executed for calling G-d Abba/ father is absurd .
That
is correct but however Jesus name is Yeshua, not Joshua and Jesus called God
his very own father, not just father as I pointed out in this example from the
Greek New Testament:
John
5:17-18 –
“But Jesus answered them, My father has been working
until now, and I have been working.
Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only
broke the Sabbath but also said that God was HIS FATHER, making himself
EQUAL WITH GOD.” Literally, “His own
Father”-Greek- patera idion. It is
clear that the Jews understood that Jesus was claiming to be God.’” (NKJV,
footnote, pg 843, Scoffield, 1989).
To drive this point further lets see
what the Jews wrote in their Apocryphal books :
"But thy providence O Father
Governeth it" (Wis. 14:3)
"O Lord, Father and governor of all
my life.."(Eccl 23:1)
"O Lord , Father and God of my
life.."(Eccl 23:4)
The term "Our Father which art in
Heaven" is one of the three major forms of the address in Jewish liturgy .
Christians
already know this so again Muhammad is attacking the strawman in trying to
prove this to ignorant Muslims who know less about Christianity than he does!!!
There
is much more Information / evidence on this issue of God and why he isn't a
created being . I
recommend Muslims study Judaism , do
some research into the Torah/Tenach and Ancient rabbinical writings , Learn
some Hebrew etc you will find a wealth of information that will help you refute
the Christian arguments . Christianity is offbase with Torah/Tenach the
foundation it self bears witness against it .
As far
as Islam is concerned , Islam may not be in %100 agreement with the
Torah/Tenach in some issues , but the fundamentals are in agreement .
Tawheed ( Monotheism) / Salat (Prayer) /
Ramadan (Fasting ) and Zakat( Charity) .
Anyone who follows the above can't go
wrong .
I do too, that way they won’t embarrass themselves with Mistranslating things. If Christianity was so and Judaism agrees 100% with Islam please explain this to me:
HEBREW HEBREW MEANING OF NAME
Adam means Man
Seth means
Appointed
Enosh means
Mortal
Kenan
means Sorrow
Mahalalel means The
Praised God
Jared means
Shall come Down
Enoch means
teaching
Methusaleh means His Death
shall bring
Lamech means The
Desparing
Noah means
Rest, or comfort.
The
bible is a book of many truths, however the Bible also has many great hidden
truths locked up inside it. As we see above, the first 10 men of the bible have
the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST encoded into them.
These are the fathers, with their sons mentioned after them in
descending order. Put it together and you have the testomony of Jesus Christ mentioned in the old testament.
Also note, Allah is never called Tawheed (monotheistic or single oneness) in
the Quran, so Mr. Muhammad can’t even prove that One means just a single
numerical one. We see that God isn’t a
man but yet he is a man so how can this be? Simple No man has seen God at anytime
except the Only Begotten Son (john 1:18).
God the Father isn’t a man but his son Jesus is as well as God. For more
links on these matters read these:
http://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Ghounem/
http://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Shabir-Ally/omnipotent.htm
Quennel Gale at queball20@yahoo.com
