We know that Islam teaches Muslims to respect and believe what all the Abrahamic prophets taught, but do they?
Let's take just one example and find out what just a few of God's true prophets of the Bible had to say about the Coming Messiah:
The prophet Moses recorded these words from Yahweh about 1,500 years before Jesus:
15 "I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel."
Genesis 3
Six centuries later, David the psalmist prophet and king foretold the crucifixion of the Messiah:
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
a gang of evildoers has closed in on me;
they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people look and stare at me.
18 They divided my garments among themselves,
and they cast lots for my clothing.
Psalm 22
The prophet Isaiah wrote:
14 "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign:
The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel."
Isaiah 7
6 For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on His shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9
But Isaiah did not just prophesy of the birth of the King. He, too, warned that Messiah would die:
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet He did not open His mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
He did not open His mouth.
8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment;
and who considered His fate?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
He was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
9 They made His grave with the wicked
and with a rich man at His death,
although He had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.
Isaiah 53
The prophet Micah wrote:
2 Bethlehem Ephrathah,
you are small among the clans of Judah;
One will come from you
to be ruler over Israel for Me.
His origin is from antiquity,
from eternity.
Micah 5
The prophet Jeremiah prophesied:
From the verses above, we gather this about the Messiah. He would be:
- born of a woman and yet would defeat Satan (Genesis 3:15)(some believe that this prophecy may also be referring to the crucifixion when it mentions the Messiah's heel)
- crucified, even though that mode of execution would not exist for more than 400 years (Psalm 22)
- miraculously conceived of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
- called "God with us" (Isaiah 7:14)
- called "Mighty God" and "Avi Ad," meaning "Father of eternity" (Isaiah 9:6)
- of eternal origins, meaning He has always existed (Micah 5:2)
- named Yehoshua, for which the short form is "Yeshua," which means "Yahweh saves" (Zechariah 3:8-9)
- coming to His Temple, meaning the Messiah is God (Malachi 3:1)
- killed as part of God's plan of salvation for mankind (Isaiah 53, Daniel 9:25-26)
Out of all of these examples, the only prophecy that most Muslims believe is that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. However, when you ask Muslims why the Messiah needed to be virgin-born, they cannot say. And why is that so? Because Muhammad didn't know why, either, and since he is their only source of information, his ignorance has been passed down from one generation of Muslims to another for the last 14 centuries.
On the other hand, having been sent by Yahweh, the One True God, the prophets of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all point us to the coming of an eternal and divine Messiah, our Yeshua. The Bible prophets also prophesied the death of the Messiah, a teaching confirmed and taught by the Lord Jesus Himself to His apostles and disciples. On the other hand, Muhammad, who Muslims claim was illiterate and thus never once read the Bible, had no idea what its prophets or the Lord Jesus taught.
Muslims today have an enormous edge over their prophet. Not only are more of them literate today than during Muhammad's time, but they also have access to the Internet and, therefore, copious amounts of data and knowledge that Muhammad could only have dreamed about in 7th century Arabia, had learning been his foremost concern.
But to be honest, it wasn't just Muslims who the Lord and His prophets had difficulty getting through to:
25 [Jesus] said to them, “How unwise and slow you are to believe in your hearts all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Didn’t the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter into His glory?”
27 Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
May the Lord speak to Muslims today through the words of His true prophets so that they, too, may come to know the Jewish Messiah Who came to save us all from our sins.
Let's take just one example and find out what just a few of God's true prophets of the Bible had to say about the Coming Messiah:
15 "I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel."
Genesis 3
Six centuries later, David the psalmist prophet and king foretold the crucifixion of the Messiah:
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
a gang of evildoers has closed in on me;
they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people look and stare at me.
18 They divided my garments among themselves,
and they cast lots for my clothing.
Psalm 22
The prophet Isaiah wrote:
14 "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign:
The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel."
Isaiah 7
6 For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on His shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9
But Isaiah did not just prophesy of the birth of the King. He, too, warned that Messiah would die:
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet He did not open His mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
He did not open His mouth.
8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment;
and who considered His fate?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
He was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
9 They made His grave with the wicked
and with a rich man at His death,
although He had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.
Isaiah 53
The prophet Micah wrote:
2 Bethlehem Ephrathah,
you are small among the clans of Judah;
One will come from you
to be ruler over Israel for Me.
His origin is from antiquity,
from eternity.
Micah 5
The prophet Jeremiah prophesied:
5 “The days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—
“when I will raise up a Righteous Branch of David.
He will reign wisely as king
and administer justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In His days Judah will be saved,
and Israel will dwell securely.
This is what He will be named:
Yahweh Our Righteousness."
Jeremiah 23
The prophet Daniel, too, prophesied the death of the Messiah:
25 Know and understand this:
From the issuing of the decree
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
until Messiah the Prince
will be seven weeks and 62 weeks.
It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat,
but in difficult times.
26 After those 62 weeks
the Messiah will be cut off
and will have nothing.
The people of the coming prince
will destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end will come with a flood,
and until the end there will be war;
desolations are decreed.
The prophet Daniel, too, prophesied the death of the Messiah:
25 Know and understand this:
From the issuing of the decree
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
until Messiah the Prince
will be seven weeks and 62 weeks.
It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat,
but in difficult times.
26 After those 62 weeks
the Messiah will be cut off
and will have nothing.
The people of the coming prince
will destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end will come with a flood,
and until the end there will be war;
desolations are decreed.
Daniel 9
While the prophet Zechariah wrote:
While the prophet Zechariah wrote:
8 Listen, cohen gadol Y’hoshua, both you and your colleagues seated here before you, because these men are a sign that I am going to bring my servant Tzemach [Sprout].
9 For look at the stone I have put in front of Y’hoshua: on one stone are seven eyes; I will engrave what is to be written on it,’ says Adonai-Tzva’ot; ‘and I will remove the guilt of this land in one day.
Zechariah 3, Complete Jewish Bible
And just over 400 years before the incarnation of the Son of God, the prophet Malachi wrote down these words from Yahweh:
1 “See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire—see, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts.
Malachi 3
And just over 400 years before the incarnation of the Son of God, the prophet Malachi wrote down these words from Yahweh:
1 “See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire—see, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts.
Malachi 3
From the verses above, we gather this about the Messiah. He would be:
- born of a woman and yet would defeat Satan (Genesis 3:15)(some believe that this prophecy may also be referring to the crucifixion when it mentions the Messiah's heel)
- crucified, even though that mode of execution would not exist for more than 400 years (Psalm 22)
- miraculously conceived of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
- called "God with us" (Isaiah 7:14)
- called "Mighty God" and "Avi Ad," meaning "Father of eternity" (Isaiah 9:6)
- of eternal origins, meaning He has always existed (Micah 5:2)
- named Yehoshua, for which the short form is "Yeshua," which means "Yahweh saves" (Zechariah 3:8-9)
- coming to His Temple, meaning the Messiah is God (Malachi 3:1)
- killed as part of God's plan of salvation for mankind (Isaiah 53, Daniel 9:25-26)
Out of all of these examples, the only prophecy that most Muslims believe is that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. However, when you ask Muslims why the Messiah needed to be virgin-born, they cannot say. And why is that so? Because Muhammad didn't know why, either, and since he is their only source of information, his ignorance has been passed down from one generation of Muslims to another for the last 14 centuries.
On the other hand, having been sent by Yahweh, the One True God, the prophets of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all point us to the coming of an eternal and divine Messiah, our Yeshua. The Bible prophets also prophesied the death of the Messiah, a teaching confirmed and taught by the Lord Jesus Himself to His apostles and disciples. On the other hand, Muhammad, who Muslims claim was illiterate and thus never once read the Bible, had no idea what its prophets or the Lord Jesus taught.
Muslims today have an enormous edge over their prophet. Not only are more of them literate today than during Muhammad's time, but they also have access to the Internet and, therefore, copious amounts of data and knowledge that Muhammad could only have dreamed about in 7th century Arabia, had learning been his foremost concern.
But to be honest, it wasn't just Muslims who the Lord and His prophets had difficulty getting through to:
25 [Jesus] said to them, “How unwise and slow you are to believe in your hearts all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Didn’t the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter into His glory?”
27 Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
May the Lord speak to Muslims today through the words of His true prophets so that they, too, may come to know the Jewish Messiah Who came to save us all from our sins.
JESUS is LORD!
See also:
Where is Jesus Prophetically Named in the Old Testament?
How Many Messiahs Were the Jews Expecting?
Messiah The Lord YHWH!
Was Jesus "Just a Messiah?" (Matthew 26)
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