Re: The Covenant
Question:-
The Jews claim that God made a covenant, first with Abraham and then at Sinai with the entire Hebrew people, and stated that that covenant was, is, and will be eternal, that it will never be modified or abrogated, even if at times the Jews themselves do not always fulfil their end of it. They claim that if anyone or anything claims to bring a teaching or law which conflict with that covenant, then it is invalid or, at least, not applicable to Jews. In particular, they say that Muhammad was not, is not, and CANNOT be a prophet for the Jews because Islamic teaching is not wholely consistent with the Jewish covenant (and that means, of course, that Muhammad was not and is not a universal prophet).
Answer:-
The Jewish covenant was made with the Jews and applies to Jews.
It does not apply to the rest of mankind. Other people go by the Scriptures or teachings sent to them through their Prophets. Muslims go by the Quran. Muhammad (saw) is a Universal Prophet because he re-affirms the Word of God as sent through all Prophets and because anyone can accept Islam irrespective of race or nationality.
The covenant with Abraham states:-
"In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:..." Genesis 15:18
"As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee (Abraham), and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee...... This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you." Genesis 17:4-8
This covenant refers to circumcision which is the outer sign of an inner devotion to God. The covenant is mentioned in many places in the Old Testament including Exodus 2:24, 31:16, 34:10-28, Leviticus 26:9-25, 26:9-45, Numbers 10:35, 25:12-13, Deuteronomy 4:23-31, 7:2-12, 31:9-28, 1 Kings 19:10-19, 1 Chronicles 16:15-17, Isaiah 24:5, 59:21) It does not apply to those who desert God and disobey Him. That is why, when the Israelites abandoned their religion, they lost the lands of Judah and Israel and were carried off by the Babylonians and Persians. The covenant is an agreement - the promise to the Israelites was conditional on their obedience. We read:-
"For I know that after my (Moses') death ye (the Israelites) will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands." Deutronimy 31:29
The following verses in the Old Testament tell us that when the Israelites failed to honour their covenant then God punishes them by withdrawing His favours:- Joshua 23:16, Judges 2:2-3,20-23, 1Kings 11:11, 2Kings 18:11-12, Psalms 50, Psalms 89:38-46, Proverbs 2:15-22, Isaiah 24:5-6, Jeremiah 11:2-12, Jeremiah 22:6-9
"Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD. How do ye say: We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; but behold, the pen of the scribes is in vain (Revised Standard Version: the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.) The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them? Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD." Jeremiah 8:7-12
Note that the Jewish Scribes have been accused by the Prophet of falsifying the Scriptures. This may mean misinterpreting or even changing the text. The Old Testament as we find it today was written down while the Jews were in Captivity.
The first covenant was only one of law, but a new covenant based on faith would follow:-
"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31:31-34.
This was known to Paul, a Jew well versed in the Scriptures :-
"For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." Romans 4:13
"Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." Romans 9:6-8
And to John the Baptist, a Jew:-
"And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." Matthew 3:9
And to Jesus:-
"And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 8:11-12
And to the Quran:-
"And remember when his Lord tried Abraham with words, and he fulfilled them, He said: Verily, I will set thee as an Imam for the nations. Said he: And of my seed also? Allah said: My covenant touches not the evildoers." Quran 2:124
"But if ye turn your backs, then I have conveyed to you that wherewith I was sent to you; and my Lord will replace you with another people. Ye cannot harm (frustrate) Him at all; verily, my Lord is Guardian over all things!" 11:57
"But nay! I swear by (or call to witness) the Lord of all points of the rising and setting places East and West that We are certainly Able to replace them with others better than them, and We shall not be overcome. " 70:40-41
The seed of Abraham includes many more people than the Jews who are only one of the tribes of Israel.
Abraham had eight sons - Ismael (by Hagar, Genesis 16:15) , Isaac (by Sarah, Genesis 21:2-3), and Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah (by Keturah, Genesis 25:1-2)
Though the covenant was transferred first to Isaac (Genesis 17:21), we read:-
"And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation." 17:20
Some Jews and Christians claim that Ismael was disowned because Genesis 22:2 calls Isaac the "only son." and because Hagar and Ismael were cast out(Genesis 21:10-12). But the following verses affirm that he was still regarded as the son of Abraham:- Genesis 17:29, 21:13. Ismael would have been the "only son" of Abraham before Isaac was born. Therefore, when applied to Isaac, the phrase has a symbolic and not a physical meaning.
Ishmael too was circumcised ( Genesis 17:25), but he was 13 years old and entering adulthood, the age of reason and self-determination. Isaac, we must remember was the second son, not the first born and he was circumcised shortly after he was born when reason had not yet developed. These are symbols or allegories as also noted by Paul:-
"For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." Galatians 4:22-26
But this has often been misinterpreted.
The Israelites were chosen by God to fulfil a certain function with respect to mankind, to transmit His Word and did not really have any say in the matter. It is only when mankind had gained a certain maturity and were able to understand and choose for themselves then we get a new kind of religion, Islam.
It is also to be noted that there is a difference between what is inherent and what is acquired. Everyone according to the Prophet Muhammad (saw), is born a muslim but is made into something else by the social environment. It conditions and imprisons him. The soul is in bondage. As we are all born into the world there is a tendency to corrupt. Ismael may, therefore, be regarded as a symbol for one who is rescued from this fate or returns to God. Isaac on the other hand represents the inherent which, like the Israelites become corrupted as the Old Testament affirms.
Jesus also speaks about the return to God in the parable of the Prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). Note that the other son who was constantly with the father was jealouse of the one that returned.
Jesus also spoke about the coming of the truth which will set people free. (8:32-36, John 16:12-15)
Note what the verse says and how it fits in with the above thesis:-
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8:32-36
"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." 16:12-14 Also see John 15:26
This obviously refers to a person who speaks as he hears. Whereas verses John 14:16, 26 do say that the Comforter is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth cannot refer to the Spirit which was already in Jesus (Luke 3:22) because Jesus said he would come after he left them (John 16:7). It relates to:-
"I 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." Deutronomy 18:18
This predicts the coming of a Prophet, not among the Israelites but their brethren, who speaks that which has been put into him. It cannot refer to Jesus because he was unlike Moses - he did not marry, take people out of a place where they were persecuted and created a new nation.
The Old Testament also tells us:-
"God (i.e. His guidance) came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise." Habakkuk 3:3
Teman is an Oasis north of Medina and Paran is where Hagar and her son Ishmael settled according to Genesis 21:21, and where they founded the city of Mecca. The cave of Hira where the Prophet Muhammad first received his revelation is in the mountains of Paran. Moses told the children of Israel before his death :-
"And he said : the Lord (His word) came from Sanai, and rose up from Seir unto them; He shines forth from mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints; from his right hand went a fiery law for them." Deutronomy 23:1-2.
Here Sinai obviously refers to Moses since he had his vision of God there. Seir refers to a chain of mountains near the Dead Sea, an area which includes Jerusalem and Bethlehem and, therefore, refers to Jesus. Paran refers to Muhammad who brought the fiery new law. The 10,000 saints could refer to the number of his followers who captured Mekka in a near bloodless victory.
In Isaiah 21:9-15 we find a forcast about the capture of Babylon by Arabs and the removal of idols. Babylon became Baghdad, a centre of Muslim culture after its capture. Tema mentioned in 21:14 is the 9th son of Ismael (Genesis 25:13-15) and is also the name of a city in Arabia probably named after him. Isaiah 21:16-17 and Ezekiel 27:21 also mentions Kedar another son of Ishmael.
Numerous other verses in the Old Testament such as Isaiah 20:20-22, 42: 1-9 and 60:1-11 can also be interpreted as referring to the Prophet Muhammad. They forecast the coming of a prophet to the Gentiles in times of Spiritual Darkness. This cannot refer to other Hebrew Prophets or to Jesus who was sent to the Jews. In Isaiah 11:1-2 we are told of the coming forth of "a rod out of the stem of Jesse" on whom the Spirit of the Lord shall rest. Christians think that this refers to Jesus because Jesse was the father of King David, but the Hebrew form of "Jesse" is a contraction for the Hebrew form of "Ishmael". There seems to be no good reason for tracing Jesus to the father of David and Jesus was born without a father. No attempt is made to trace his lineage through his mother Mary but only through Joseph her husband, either in Matthew 1 or Luke 3, and they contradict each other. (see Matt 1:16 and Luke 3:23
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