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Hikmah
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Expecting Three?
John 1:
19 Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.
20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ."
21 They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."
22 Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, `Make straight the way for the Lord.'"
24 Now some Pharisees who had been sent
25 questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
26 "I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know.
27 He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
This leads to one of the many contradictions in the Bible, John say's that he is NOT Elijah, yet Jesus say's that John IS Elijah:
Matthew 17
10 The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"
11 Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.
12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."
13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
Now the truth is, I don't really care if there is a contradiction or not, the bottom line is that John the Baptist WAS Elijah, as no one fits the discription better. My point, however, is as follows: If John was Elijah; Jesus was the Christ (or Messiah); then who is THAT PROPHET that the Jews were speaking of?
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Muhammad In The Old Testament.
"And this [is] the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand [went] a fiery law for them."
Deuteronomy 33:1
Like the sun rising, God explains the succession of prophet-hood. Will anyone doubt that God spoke of Moses in the reference to Sinai (the mountain), where God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses? Is there any question that the mentioning of Seir (which is the mountain range crossing Palestine, including Bethlehem) is a reference to Jesus? If not, then there should be no question that God's reference to Paran is a direct mention of the coming of Muhammad. You see, the wilderness of Paran was the valley that Abraham left his son Ishmael and his wife Hagar. This is also the present day location of the city of Mecca, where Muhammad was born.
I would also like for you to notice that God says He will come with 10,000 saints, and pass a fiery law for them. I would like to inform you (and you can confirm this) that Muhammad won the final triumph over Mecca (Paran) with 10,000 soldier's, and anything coming from the right hand is supposed to mean good, check the Bible for proof.
"I (God) will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee (Moses), and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him."
Deuteronomy 18:18
There are many verses in the Old Testament that predict the coming of Jesus. This one, however, is not one of them. This can be clearly seen from the following four points:
Like unto Moses
Muslims believe in all of the previous prophets. They make no distinction between them, nor do they place one above the others in piety. However, they are all human, and as humans they differ from one another in their characteristics. Let us compare these characteristics:
1) Both Christians and Muslims agree that both Moses and Muhammad had fathers and mothers. They both also believe that Jesus had only a mother and no father. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
2) Both Moses and Muhammad married and begot children. Jesus never married nor had any offspring. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
3) The Jews accepted Moses and to this day, as a nation, they accept him as their prophet. Muhammad was accepted by his people, and as a nation, over one billion Muslims around the world accept him as the prophet of Allah. Jesus, however, was rejected by his people (the Jews) as stated in the Christian's own Bible: "He (Jesus) came unto his own, but his own received him not" (John 1:11) Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
4) Both Moses and Muhammad were kings on Earth in the sense that they had the ultimate power of government, the power to inflict capital punishment. When the Jews brought before Moses the Israelite who had been caught collecting firewood on the Sabbath, Moses had him stoned to death (Numbers 15:36). Muhammad had similar authority. When a woman came before him confessing (with no witnesses) to having committed adultery, he gave her a chance to consider the severity of her claim and the punishment she would receive. When she insisted, he ordered her stoned to death and ordered his companions to respect her for her sincere repentance. Jesus, however, explicitly refuted the claim that he had a kingdom on earth. When he was dragged before the Roman Governor Pontious Pilate with a charge of sedition he said: (John 18:36) "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." Jesus would not resort to lying to save his skin. Thus, he had no earthly kingdom. Further, in John 8:1-7 we read the story of the woman who was taken in adultery by the Jews and brought before Jesus. They were hoping to trap him by either having him contradict the laws of Moses by not stoning her, or by placing him in a bad position with the Roman empire by taking the law into his own hands and ordering her stoned. Jesus cleverly extracted himself from this predicament by commanding them: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." So the woman was set free. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
5) Both Moses and Muhammad came with a new and comprehensive set of laws for their people. The law brought by Moses was named the Judaic Law, and the law brought by Prophet Muhammad was named the Shari'ah. Jesus, however, as witnessed by Matthew, claimed to have not introduced any new laws, but to have come to renew the Law of Moses and to have neither added nor subtracted from it. In Matthew 5:17-18 we read: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
6) Moses led his people in a secret mass exodus from their hometown to Median in an attempt to flee the persecution of their enemies. Muhammad too emigrated with his followers from their hometown to Madinah in secret in order to flee the torture of their enemies. Jesus, however, never led his followers in any sort of mass exodus from their hometowns. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
7) Moses was victorious over his enemies both morally as well as physically. Moses defeated Pharaoh and all of his army was drowned in the sea. Muhammad too met his enemies in battle and defeated them all. This too was a moral as well as a physical victory. Jesus on the other hand is claimed in the Bible to have been crucified by his enemies. Thus, his victory was only a moral one. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
8) Both Moses and Muhammad died natural deaths. Jesus is claimed by the Christians to have died violently on the cross. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
9) Both Moses and Muhammad lie buried in the ground. Jesus, however, is claimed by the Christians to abide in heaven. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
10) Most Christians claim that Jesus is God. No Christian or Muslim, however, claims that Moses or Muhammad was God. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
11) Both Moses and Muhammad began their prophetic missions at the age of forty. The Bible tells us that Jesus began at thirty. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
12) Christians claim that Jesus was resurrected after his death. Neither Muslims nor Christians claim that Moses or Muhammad was resurrected. Therefore, Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
It should also be mentioned that The Qur'an is not the word of Muhammad, rather, it is the word of God. So the part about God putting His words into the Prophets mouth, certainly applies to Muhammad.
I also recommend Jew's & Christian's to read the next verse (Deut 18:19) for an explicit warning for those who do not choose to follow this last prophet.
"And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that [is] the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, [but] the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."
Deuteronomy 18:21-22
So if the statements made in the Qur'an were not true then this would prove that it is not the word of God. However, there is not a single claim made in the Qur'an that has been scientifically and objectively refuted as false. In fact, there is not one, but dozens of scientific and historical statements to be found in the Qur'an which have just begun to be scrutinized by modern scientists and historians. And which, according to many non-Muslim world renowned, pioneering scientists of the United States, Germany, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, India and many other nations, could not have been known by an illiterate man of the desert fourteen hundred years ago. They themselves have only discovered these facts through the use of microscopes, telescopes, satellites, and various other scientific equipment that was not available to Muhammad. These statements range over the fields of Embryology, Oceanography, Geology, Astronomy, Anatomy, Physics, and many others (see my page on science). Some of them have only been discovered during the last twenty years. These facts could not even have been copied from the Bible because many of them are either completely missing from the Bible or totally oppose similar verses in the Bible. If Muhammad had plagiarized the Bible, then did he also selectively correct incorrect scientific statements in it? It is also interesting to note that Christian scholars readily acknowledge that the Bible was not translated into Arabic until at least the eighth century AD, long after the death of Muhammad in 632C.E. You may get a side-by-side comparison of the Biblical vs. the Qur'anic versions of many scientific facts by referring to Dr. Maurice Bucaille's books: "The Bible, the Qur'an, and Science."
I also highly recommend the following books: "Qur'an and modern science Correlation Studies," by Keith L. Moore, Abdul-Majeed A. Zindani, Mustafa A. Ahmed, and "The developing Human," By Dr. Keith Moore. These books speak about embryology in the Qur'an, and other topics.
The Book of Isaiah is one of my personal favorites.
Isaiah saw a vision of two riders.
"And he saw a chariot [with] a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, [and] a chariot of camels..
Isaiah 21:7
Who was the rider upon the ass? Every Sunday school student will tell us that this was a prophecy of Jesus, as stated in John:
"And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,"
John 12:14
But who is the promised prophet who would ride the camel? If it is not Muhammad then this prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. Let us read on...
"And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, [with] a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground."
Isaiah 21:9
Babylon did indeed fall before Islam and the Islamic nation under the guidance of Muhammad did indeed succeed in eradicating the worship of idols from Babylon replacing it with the worship of God alone. In fact, the Muslims were the only believers in the God of Isaiah to ever succeed in fulfilling this prophecy. Continuing...
"The burden upon Arabia...
Isaiah 21:13
What does the word "burden" mean? In the Scofield Study Bible we read:
"which also means an oracle is a word sometimes used in the prophetical writings to indicate a divine message of judgment"
Scofield Study Bible New King James Version, note 1, p. 792
So the Muslims of Arabia (and subsequently Muslims everywhere) would be assigned the burden of God's message.
"The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war"
Isaiah 21:14-15
Tema, according to John McKenzie's dictionary of the Bible is
"A place name and tribal name of Arabia; a son of Ishmael.... The name survives in Tema, an oasis of the part of the Arabian Desert called the Nefud in N Central Arabia."
This word, Tema, is the name of the ninth son of Ishmael (the father of the Arabs), in Genesis 25:13-15 we read:
"And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah"
Strong's concordance tells us that this name was also applied to the land settled by Tema the son of Ishmael. It goes on to explain how this word is "probably of foreign derivation". Indeed, this word, Tema,is an Arabic word which means "Barren desert". It remains the name of a city in the Arabian Peninsula just north of "Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah," or "Madinah" for short. Muhammad and his companions were given sanction to migrate. They departed Mecca during the night and left all of their possessions behind. Upon reaching Madinah they were greeted by it's citizens with open arms and Muhammad assigned each one of the Muhajireen (citizens of Mecca) to one of the Ansar (citizens of Madinah) to house and feed them until they could strike out on their own. This became the first year of the Arab "Hijra" (Emigration) calendar used in Islamic countries to this day.
"For thus hath the LORD said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail. And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken [it]."
Isaiah 21:16-17
Kedar* is the second son of Ishmael, the father of the Arabs:
"And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam."
Genesis 25:13
Kedar is also synonymous with all of Arabia in general, as in Ezekiel:
"Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar."
Ezekiel 27:21
The Arabs of Mecca, the capital of the paganistic tribes of Arabia of the day, were indeed defeated by the Muslims in the second year after their forced immigration from Mecca to Madinah (The Hijra). This victory signaled the turning point for Islam and a transition from a position of weakness to one of power and victory (for more, please read chapter 10).
It should be pointed out here that, as mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, the children of Israel, from the tribe of Levi, were distinctly aware of this prophecy. Indeed this is the very reason why they had begun to immigrate from the lush and fertile pastures of their holy land of Israel to the barren parched deserts of Arabia, specifically to Madinah and the surrounding areas of Khaibar, Tema, and others. Because they knew that this is where the final prophet would appear. As mentioned above, these children of the Jews were constantly threatening the Arab inhabitants of Madinah (the tribes of Al-Aws and Al-Kazraj) with his impending arrival and how they would follow him and, through his leadership, they would utterly destroy these Arabs. They had hoped that this prophet would be from their tribe and that their presence in this location might facilitate this hope.
When their awaited prophet finally did come, they rejected him. They wanted a Jewish prophet from their own tribe and not an Arab from the sons of Ishmael. Thus, they allowed their pride to come between them and the truth, which they recognized. However, their efforts were not totally in vain, so continuous were their efforts in threatening the inhabitants of Madinah with the final prophet's imminent arrival that when Muhammad finally did come, the inhabitants of Madinah immediately recognized him and hastened to follow him before the Jews. These inhabitants of Madinah would later become among those very first followers of Muhammad who would one year later go on to fulfill the prophesy of Isaiah by defeating the "mighty men of Kedar" in the very first battle of the Islamic nation, the battle of Badr.
As the prophesy requires, one year after prophet Muhammad and his followers escaped from the torture and persecution of the people of Kedar and emigrated to Madinah, the men of Mecca decided to once and for all put an end to Muhammad and his followers. They assembled an army consisting of 750 footmen and 200 horsemen, all of their very best fighters, and all very well armed. The leaders of this army consisted of the majority of the leaders of Kedar. They were confident of victory and bragged that after this massacre they would be feared throughout all of Arabia.
The Muslims heard of this amassing of troops and prepared as best they could. They collected 313 footmen with two horses and seventy camels. The Muslims fought long and hard with the men of Kedar and were finally granted victory. This battle ended in the death of these leaders of Kedar and a resounding victory for the Muslims.
In this battle, only fourteen Muslims and seventy pagans from Kedar were killed. Twenty-four of those who died from Kedar were their leaders. In addition, seventy others from Kedar were taken as prisoners and later ransomed back to their people.
This was the great turning point for the Islamic nation. This battle was the beginning of the end for the reign of idolatry and paganism within the land of Arabia. This Muslim nation would then go on to expand to many other nations until it spread from Spain to China, fulfilling many more prophesies in the Bible, including Daniel 2:44, Genesis 15:18-21, and many others.
"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;"
Isaiah 11:1-2
Once again, we have here a verse which has been popularly interpreted to apply to Jesus, and once again it must be stated that although all Muslims believe in Jesus and in the prophesies of him in the Old Testament, still, this specific prophesy does not apply to him, why?
To understand this prophesy we need to study the verses carefully. These verses tell us that the rod (branch) which shall grow out of the stem (trunk) of "Jesse" shall be filled by God with wisdom, understanding, council, might, knowledge, and the fear of God. In other words, he shall be a statesman, a prophet and a judge. The obvious question that springs to mind is: Who was "Jesse"? In the Encyclopedia Biblica we read that Jesse is a contraction of Ishmael, or:
"Jesse, for Ishmael¦ The changes which proper names undergo in the mouths of small children account for a large number of these particular abbreviations - who could guess, to take modern examples, that Bob and Dick arose out of Robert and Richard? Such forms as in ai were particularly common in later times and many more in the Talmud, which also exhibits various other kinds of abbreviation"
Encyclopedia Biblica, Rev. T. K. Cheyne D.Litt D.D., J. Sutherland Black M.A. LL.D., Vol. 3, under "Names," p. 3292, item 52
Now, the reason why these biblical scholars have said this may not be readily apparent to us simply by reading the English rendition of these two words, however, when these Christian scholars went back and looked at the original Hebrew words, that is when they realized it's true meaning. Although a complete understanding of why this is true would require knowledge of the Hebrew language, still, it is possible at least phonetically to see this even in the English language. Let us have a look.
In Hebrew, the word Ishmael is written as Yishma`e'l. It is pronounced {yish-maw-ale'}.
Similarly, in Hebrew, the word Jesse is written as Yishay. It is pronounced {yee-shah'-ee}, or in Aramaic it is 'Iyshay and pronounced {ee-shah'-ee}.
Thus, we begin to see, even in our phonetic Hebrew rendition, how these Christian Biblical scholars came to recognize that just as "Dick" is a contraction of "Richard," and "Bob" is a contraction of "Robert," similarly, by studying the Hebrew words themselves, they found that {yee-shah'-ee} is indeed a contraction of {yish-maw-ale'}.
The only "branch" from the stem of Ishmael who was a statesman, a prophet and a judge was Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
More from Isaiah.
"And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which [men] deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, [I pray thee]: and he saith, I cannot; for it [is] sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, [I pray thee]: and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, [even] a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise [men] shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? [Is] it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness."
Isaiah 29:11-18
Prophet Muhammad was illiterate. His entire life he never learned to read nor write. The exact circumstances of this first revelation were as follows: It was the habit of Muhammad to frequently remove himself from the midst of his fellow Arabs and their heathenistic actions and spend many days secluded in the cave of "Hiraa" in the mountains of Mecca where he would pray to God according to the religion of Abraham. After many years of this, and having reached the age of forty (610AD), the angel Gabriel suddenly appeared before him and ordered him to "Iqra!" (read, recite, repeat, proclaim). Muhammad, in his terror, thought he was being asked to read, so he stammered: "I am unlettered." The angel Gabriel again ordered him to "Iqra!" Muhammad again replied: "I am unlettered." The angel Gabriel now took a firm hold of him and commanded him "Iqraa in the name of Allah who created! Now Muhammad began to understand that he was not being asked to read, but to recite, to repeat. He began to repeat after him, and Gabriel revealed to him the first verses of the Qur'an, those at the beginning of the chapter of Al-Alak(96):
"Read (Iqraa): In the name of your Lord who created, Created man from a clot. Read (Iqraa): And your Lord is the Most Bounteous, Who teaches by the pen, Teaches man that which he knew not."
The Qur'an, Al-Alak(96):1-5
As mentioned above, the actual word that the angel Gabriel used to address Muhammad was the Arabic word "Iqra." It is derived from the Arabic root word "qara". However, if we were to go back to the original Hebrew form of the verses of Isaiah 29:11, we would find that the actual word which is translated into English as "Read this [I pray thee]" is the Hebrew word qara', {kaw-raw'}. Is it not an amazing coincidence that the Hebrew text used not only a word with the same meaning, but also the exact same word itself?
Verse 11 of Isaiah tells us that the final book (the Qur'an) was revealed to previous prophets, however, they could not read it. It was "sealed" for them because it was meant for the last prophet, and until the last prophet's time came, the people would not yet be able to "bear" this message (John 16:13). It was also, probably, sealed for them because it was revealed in Arabic.
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Muhammad in the New Testament.
John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever"
John 14:26 "But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
John 15:26 "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me"
John 16:7-14 "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. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye 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: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you."
As a former Christian, I know full well that these verses are said to refer to 'The Holy Ghost', and then unceremoniously shrugged off. Personally, I look back at Deuteronomy and see that warning that God gives to us ( Deut 18: 25) and worry that I didn't obey Gods orders. Before you, yourself, just shrug off this verse as ANYTHING, I recommend that you consider the consequences.
Read what Jesus is saying: Jesus is leaving, but we should not be sad. Rather, we should be happy, because Jesus is going to send someone ELSE, and this person will finish what Jesus came with... the revelations from God. Jesus didn't start anything new, per say; he simply brought our religious understanding to a higher level, like all the prophets of God did. This new person, however, will conclude what the first prophets of God started. Notice what Jesus said: "It is to your benefit that I leave, or the "Paraclete" ("Ho Parakletos" in Greek) will not come." Open your Bible, I'm not making this up.
The word "Paraclete" is typically translated into advocate, comforter or intercessor. Also, this person is called 'The Spirit of Truth'.
It must be pointed out that the original Greek manuscripts speak of a "Holy pneuma." The word pneuma (pnyoo'-mah) is the Greek root word for "spirit." There is no separate word for "Ghost" in the Greek manuscripts, of which there are claimed to be over 24,000 today. The translators of the King James Version of the Bible translate this word as "Ghost" to convey their own personal understanding of the text. However, a more accurate translation is "Holy Spirit." More faithful and recent translations of the Bible, such as the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), do indeed now translate it as "Holy Spirit." Read:
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world,"
1 John 4:1-3:
(Also see 1 John 4:6), or an inspired human, for example read 1 Corinthians 2:10, 2 Thessalonians 2:2, ...etc. You see, the word actually means 'inspired', and always refers to a human.
More than this, we can see that the appearance of this comforter or spirit is totally conditional, meaning, if Jesus stays here, then the comforter will not show up, but if Jesus goes, then he will appear. I don't need to tell you that the Holy Ghost was already there when Jesus was on earth, the Bible could do that for me, read:
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness (was) upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
Genesis 1:2
"And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them."
1 Samuel 10:10
"And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly."
1 Samuel 11:6
"Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he that put his Holy Spirit within him?"
Isaiah 63:11
"For he (John the Baptist) shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb."
Luke 1:15
"And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee."
Luke 1:35
"And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost"
Luke 1:41
"And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,"
Luke 1:67
"And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him."
Luke 2:25
"And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost (Simeon), that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ."
Luke 2:26
"And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him (Jesus), and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased."
Luke 3:22
"Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost."
John 20:21-22
The Holy Ghost was an unconditional guarantee from God, whether Jesus was here or not, so the promised comforter/ advocate could not have been the Holy Ghost. The comforter was indeed a human, and came after Jesus, and completed what Jesus did not complete. Remember that Jesus told his disciples that they couldn't bear it if Jesus revealed all things to them now, it was THEY (and the people of earth) who weren't ready for it. It was in NO WAY Jesus who was incapable of handling it, only the rest of us.
Notice, also, that Jesus says that he will send ANOTHER Parakletos (comforter/ advocate). This implies that there was an advocate BEFORE the one that will come after Jesus. The truth is that Jesus, too, was an advocate/ comforter, and he says it himself, read:
The word "Paraclete" is applied to Jesus (pbuh) himself in John 2:1
"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate (Parakletos) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
John 2:1
This should give you an understanding of why the Qur'an is only in Arabic, and any language other than that is simply a translation, but we are commanded to do our best to learn Arabic, because that was the language that the Qur'an was sent to us in. I recommend that all of the Christians try to learn Greek, or at least Latin. I am fortunate that my father studied Latin and was able to provide me a better understanding of some words, but even the Latin is only a translation from the Greek. Unfortunately, even the Greek was a translation, as Jesus spoke Aramaic and probably Hebrew, both of which are Semitic languages, like Arabic. By reading the English translation, alone, you we are subject to the understanding of the translator, which may not always be correct.
Now, since you are on a web site called 'What Would Muhammad Do', it should be no surprise that I am mentioning these verses with the intent that Jesus was describing Muhammad, who claimed to be the last Prophet of God. This is the part where I make that attempt.
Just looking at the description of how we can recognize this Comforter/ advocate, we read that he will glorify the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus is mentioned in the Qur'an twenty-five (25) times, all in glorification of Jesus and his mother (peace be upon them both). Muhammad's name is mentioned only five (5) times. The Qur'an speaks more about Jesus, and how great he was, than about Muhammad. Here is one of those verses, read:
"And the angles said 'O Mary, Allah gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him, his name is Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, High honored in this world and the next, of those near stationed to Allah."
Qur'an, A'al-Umran(3):40.
Do you know what I would be willing to do to have God speak of me in such high regards? I would do anything! Truly, Muhammad glorified Jesus, and so did the Qur'an, which is from God.
The promised Advocate/ comforter will reprove the world of sin, this accurately describes Muhammad. He came to the world to show them how they had been misguided in "sin" by believing that mankind can inherit sin (Ezekiel 18:19-20) and that someone's sin can be forgiven by the sacrifice of others.
Muhammad also taught us about the 'False Messiah' who would appear in the future, as this 'Liar' (as Muhammad called him) is referred to as the 'Prince of the World', and he has already been judged. This is the judgment that the comforter/ advocate will reprove the world of.
Jesus says that this spirit will abide in us forever, many Christians use this to support their idea that this is in reference to the Holy Ghost. But this simply the way that they are used to conveying a message. Did Jesus not say:
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that Thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? And the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying."
John 8:51-55
And also:
"And I (Jesus) give unto them (the believers) eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."
John 10:28
More than this, Jesus said that the message shall be inscribed on the hearts of the believers. The Qur'an is meant to be memorized, word-for-word, letter-by-letter, syllabol-by-syllabol. Can a message be closer to someone's heart than this?
Finally, what of the prophecy Jesus mentioned concerning the rejected stone?
"Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast [him] out of the vineyard, and slew [him]. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out [his] vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet."
Matthew 21:33-46
The bottom line is this: anyone who does not honor the covenant of God will not receive his share. Now the question is, who is the rejected stone that now holds the covenant of God? I recommend looking back at the way that the Arabs have been treated, like a rejected brother. The question is, if the covenant of God has been taken away from the Jewish traditions, then who is the rejected stone that it has been given to (according to Jesus)?
I will not walk anyone through life; we all have our own choices to make and our own paths to take. We only live once, right? So my recommendation is to look at what you follow, and make sure it is the correct path. If there is only one God, Then there can be only one road to His house, try not getting lost.
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