HSIChapter19

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HINDUISM, SIKHISM AND ISLAM: ARE THESE GOD'S RELIGIONS

CHAPTER 19

Coming of Muhammed Prophesied in the Bible

Muslims claim that the coming of Muhammed as a prophet was prophesied in the Bible.

The first reference they mainly cite from the Old Testament is Deuteronomy 18:15-19, “15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, 16 according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’

17 “And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. 18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him [meaning hold him accountable].“

Muslims claim that these verses are about Muhammed being sent as a prophet from among the brethren of the Israelites, and since Ishmael was Abraham’s son, his descendants, the Arabs, are brethren of the Israelites.

There are several problems with this interpretation. First of all, the Bible affirms that this prophecy of a prophet like Moses was fulfilled by Jesus Christ Himself.

Peter said so in Acts 3:20-23: "20 and that He [that is God the Father] may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. 22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people."

Stephen the martyr also confirmed the same about Jesus Christ being that Prophet like Moses in Acts 7:37: "37 "This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.' 37 "This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.'

So, this prophecy was already fulfilled about 580 years before Muhammed came along.

Secondly, this prophecy was addressed to Israelites and not Ishmaelites. God was saying that He would raise up a Prophet from their midst, meaning in the midst of the Israelites, from your brethren, meaning Moses’ brethren. Moses was of the tribe of Levi. Levi’s brothers were the other eleven tribes of Israel. Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, from the brethren tribe of Levi, from the midst of the Israelites.

Thirdly, God was to raise up a prophet among the Israelites and not Ishmaelites. Muhammed was never a prophet to the Israelites. He tried to impose his religion on a few Jews, whom he murdered. He simply was not a prophet to the Israelites.

Fourth, prophets whose coming was prophesied beforehand in the Bible could cite the specific verses and acknowledge the role they were fulfilling. Muhammed never cited Deuteronomy 18:15-18 or any other verse in the Bible and claim that he was fulfilling the role of that particular prophet.

When John the Baptist was asked by the Pharisees who he was, the exchange is mentioned in John 1:19-23, “19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you? 20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21 And they asked him, What then? Are thou Elias [Elijah]? And he says, I am not. Are you that prophet? [the prophet spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-18] And he answered, No. 22 Then said they unto him, Who are you? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What say you of yourself? 23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” John the Baptist quoted Isaiah 40:3.

God said He would also sent another prophet like Elijah before the coming of the dreadful day of the Lord in Malachi 4:4-5, “5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse [or utter destruction].”

The man who fulfilled that role in our modern day, just before the coming of the dreadful Day of the Lord knew that He was fulfilling that role. That man’s name was Herbert W. Armstrong. I have provided the proof of his fulfillment of this prophecy in my book “Which Holy Book is the Word of God?”

For the sake of Muslims, the role of the prophet like Moses, prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:15-18 is also being fulfilled today by the author. Ample proof has been provided in the book titled “Jews Behold Your God” in the chapter titled “A Prophet Like Moses.” A prophet does recognize the role he is fulfilling. Among the many proofs detailed in that chapter include God preserving the author through hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of attempts on his life, including many by Muslims; God’s angels broadcasting his weekly messages at 9.00 AM Saturday mornings, USA Eastern Standard Time, which every human being can hear in his or her own language; God preserving millions in America and British Commonwealth nations at his prayers when murder attempts were made by German masqueraders (people of German descent living in these countries), and many more.

The role of the prophet Elijah had a three-fold fulfillment. Similarly, the role of the prophet like Moses was to have a three-fold fulfillment. The Elijah role was first fulfilled by the original Elijah. Then before the first coming of Jesus, John the Baptist fulfilled that role as Jesus stated in Matthew 17:11-12. Then before the second coming of Jesus Christ, the role of the prophet Elijah was fulfilled by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, through whom God started the modern era of His Church.

The role of the prophet like Moses was originally fulfilled by Moses himself. Then as already stated, Jesus Christ fulfilled that role Himself in His time. The third time the role was to be fulfilled before the second coming of Jesus Christ to earth. That role is being fulfilled by the author.

The true mark of a prophet in the Bible is that either God gives prophecy through him, or gives understanding and interpretation of prophecy through him. All the prophetic books of the Bible are prophecies of the future. Quran contains no prophecies. Neither was Muhammed given understanding of any prophecies previously given. And the only prophecies previously given are in the Bible. Muhammed was not given understanding of them. Therefore, Muhammed miserably fails the test of being a true prophet of God.

In contrast to Muhammed, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong was given an understanding of prophecy better than any human who has ever lived, except for Jesus Christ. That is the sign of a true prophet. The author has also been given much additional understanding of prophecy. He has incorporated the prophecies taught by Mr. Armstrong into his understanding of prophecy, particularly the sequence of end-time events, and has written them in his book titled “Word in Bible Prophecy,” available free on his website www.ChurchofGodMessage.com.

Thus, Mohammed was not the prophet prophesied by Moses to come. He was deceived by Satan the devil, and was used to deceive the Muslim world.

The second reference usually cited to prove the coming of Muhammed as a prophet is John 14:15-17, “15 If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.”

There is a lengthy Muslim explanation of these verses on the website www.alislam.org under the article “Biblical Prophecies about Mohammed” by Maulana Ataullah Kaleem:

Besides the above verses, the writer cites other verses in which the word Comforter or Holy Spirit is used:

“But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things…” (John 14:26)

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” (John 16:7)

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me.” (John 16:12-14)

“John 14:26 says that the Holy Ghost is the Comforter. This claim is contrary to the plain and unambiguous words of John 16:7, wherein Jesus says that his going away, i.e., the death of Jesus is inevitably necessary of the coming of the Comforter. The New Testament says that John was filled with the Holy Ghost even before he was born (Luke 1:14), and speaks of Jesus himself as receiving the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove (Matthew 3:16). Thus, the Holy Ghost was wont to visit men before Jesus as well as in his own time. To what, then is the reference in the words, “If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you.” Surely not to the Holy Ghost; for it is a matter of common knowledge that the Holy Ghost was co-existing with Jesus, and it would be sacrilegious to think for a moment that Jesus was without the Holy Ghost. So, the Comforter was someone other than the Holy Ghost.”

“This also supports our assertion that there have been many interpolations in the existing Christian Bible. It is quite obvious that the Comforter cannot be the Holy Ghost, as Jesus uses the pronoun “he” instead of “it” in connection with the Comforter.”

This Muslim scholar has to fall back on the Muslim assertion that the Bible was changed to support his arguments, because John clearly says in 14:26 that the Comforter is the Holy Spirit. He implies that John 14:26 is an alteration of the Bible. But we have already proved that the Bible was not altered. Hence this author uses false premises to support his arguments. He also relies on the Trinity doctrine to state that the Holy Ghost was co-existing with Jesus. We have already proved that the Trinity doctrine is false, and the holy spirit is the power of God and not a third person in the Godhead. He also states that the holy spirit was already wont to visit men before Jesus Christ as John the Baptist had it from birth.

This scholar has very little understanding of the holy spirit and uses and twists whatever errors are commonly associated with the holy spirit to argue that John the apostle was wrong in stating that the Comforter is the holy spirit.

First of all, even before John the Baptist, all the prophets, including David (Psalm 51) had God’s holy spirit. But the holy spirit was not generally given to man men. Only after Jesus Christ was resurrected and went to Heaven to be with the Father that He sent the holy spirit on the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. to the entire Church, as stated by John in the above quoted verses.

The holy spirit is not a person. The King James Version translators used the pronoun ‘he’ for the holy spirit incorrectly because they were steeped in the Trinity doctrine. “It” is the correct pronoun to use for the holy spirit. The holy spirit is the power of God through which God communicates to the minds of those converted in the Church. Through the holy spirit God teaches the truth. It imparts spiritual discernment, which is the ability to understand spiritual truth. Humans not converted do not have spiritual understanding because they lack the holy spirit.

Thus John is talking about the holy spirit, the power of God, when he mentions the Comforter and not a person to come. In no way is the Comforter referring to the coming of Muhammed. Muhammed certainly could not have abided in the Christians forever, or been with them forever.

Jesus said the disciples, or Christians would receive the Comforter or holy spirit. Muhammed did not come to the Christians. He certainly was no comforter to the Jews and Christians, because his message is completely anti-Christian denying the centrality of Christianity: the divinity of Jesus Christ, His crucifixion and death to pay the death penalty on behalf of all humanity, and His resurrection to go to the Father and be an advocate as our High Priest.

The problem with religious authorities of all pagan faiths is that they cannot give up their faith easily. After all, that is how they make their living. Imams, Maulvis, Hindu and Sikh priests, and pastors and bishops in mainstream Christianity will continue to preach their religion even when pointed out that what they are preaching is lies. That’s how they earn their living. It’s a daunting task for a 50-year- old preacher who has trained all his life and earned a living by preaching his religion to give it all up and start a new profession. He has kids to look after, especially when they require more expenses to maintain, such as going to college, or marriage etc. They simply cannot change a profession in middle age, and have to face the daunting prospect of not being able to earn a living. That’s why they’ll continue to deceive to earn a living, and invent arguments, or twist the truth to maintain their lies. Those are the kinds of arguments Muslim scholars are using to prove that the coming of Muhammed was prophesied in the Bible.

Only those who want to know and follow the truth and have an open mind will be able to recognize how Satan deceived Muhammed, and how Muslim scholars are deceiving Muslims with their lies by twisting the Bible. We hope that those with an open mind will reject such concocted lies.

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