David and Jesus - Priest, Prophet, and King

[Guest wiki]

You may want to research whether Queen Elizabeth II is descended from Mohammed as well

 

http://www.college-o...v.uk/contact-us

 

http://www.juancole.com/about

 

Either Harold B. Brooks-Baker or Juan Cole's claim could be fake.

 

Harold Brooks-Baker (16 November 1933-5 March 2005), was an American-British financier, journalist and publisher, and self-proclaimed expert on genealogy. He became a bond trader and settled in London in the 1960s. In 1974 Brooks-Baker and his business partners took over Debrett's, publisher of several titles on British aristocracy including Debrett’s Peerage & Baronetage.

 

In 1984 he moved to Burke's Peerage Partnership as director of publishing. The partnership had been in poor financial health for years and had already sold its flagship publication, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. Brooks-Baker was never associated with Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage but oversaw the publication of books about genealogy and the aristocracy including Burke's Presidential Families of the United States of America. The company's major business was genealogical research. As public relations for Burke's, he was a frequent commentator on the British Royal family and aristocracy in the British press.

[Guest Marion]

Explain the king part about Jesus?

[Luke_Wilbur]

I will go into Jesus the King soon. I want to first build a background of understanding what God wants in a king.

 

Deuteronomy 17

 

17:14 When you come to the land the Lord your God is giving you and take it over and live in it and then say, “I will select a king like all the nations surrounding me,”

 

17:15 you must select without fail a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites.

 

17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, for the Lord has said you must never again return that way.

 

17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold.

 

17:18 When he sits on his royal throne he must make a copy of this law on a scroll given to him by the Levitical priests.

 

17:19 It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out.

 

17:20 Then he will not exalt himself above his fellow citizens or turn from the commandments to the right or left, and he and his descendants will enjoy many years ruling over his kingdom in Israel.

 

1 Samuel 15

 

15:22 Then Samuel said,

“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as he does in obedience?

Certainly, obedience is better than sacrifice;

paying attention is better than the fat of rams.

 

15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,

and presumption is like the evil of idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

he has rejected you as king.

 

 

In the Old Testament God often commands entire families or nations to be destroyed if their corporate representatives are willfully and incorrigibly wicked. Saul disobeyed God's command and lost his kingship to David because of his inaction.

 

Joshua was put to a similar test when God told him to burn those that had stole from His treasury.

 

Joshua 6

 

6:18 But be careful when you are setting apart the riches for the Lord. If you take any of it, you will make the Israelite camp subject to annihilation and cause a disaster.

 

6:19 All the silver and gold, as well as bronze and iron items, belong to the Lord. They must go into the Lord’s treasury.”

 

Joshua 7

 

7:1 But the Israelites disobeyed the command about the city’s riches. Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, stole some of the riches. The Lord was furious with the Israelites.

 

 

7:11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenantal commandment! They have taken some of the riches; they have stolen them and deceitfully put them among their own possessions.

 

7:12 The Israelites are unable to stand before their enemies; they retreat because they have become subject to annihilation. I will no longer be with you, unless you destroy what has contaminated you.

 

7:13 Get up! Ritually consecrate the people and tell them this: ‘Ritually consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because the Lord God of Israel says, “You are contaminated, O Israel! You will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove what is contaminating you.”

 

7:14 In the morning you must approach in tribal order. The tribe the Lord selects must approach by clans. The clan the Lord selects must approach by families. The family the Lord selects must approach man by man.

 

7:15 The one caught with the riches must be burned up along with all who belong to him, because he violated the Lord’s covenant and did such a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”

 

7:19 So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, honor the Lord God of Israel and give him praise! Tell me what you did; don’t hide anything from me!”

 

7:20 Achan told Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel in this way:

 

7:21 I saw among the goods we seized a nice robe from Babylon, two hundred silver pieces, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels. I wanted them, so I took them. They are hidden in the ground right in the middle of my tent with the silver underneath.”

 

7:22 Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent. The things were hidden right in his tent, with the silver underneath.

 

7:23 They took it all from the middle of the tent, brought it to Joshua and all the Israelites, and placed it before the Lord.

 

7:24 Then Joshua and all Israel took Achan, son of Zerah, along with the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, ox, donkey, sheep, tent, and all that belonged to him and brought them up to the Valley of Disaster.

 

7:25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought disaster on us? The Lord will bring disaster on you today!” All Israel stoned him to death. (They also stoned and burned the others.)

 

7:26 Then they erected over him a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day ) and the Lord’s anger subsided. So that place is called the Valley of Disaster to this very day.

[Luke_Wilbur]

Sin of Divination

 

Leviticus 19

 

19:31 Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spirits to become unclean by them. I am the Lord your God.

 

Leviticus 20

 

20:6 "'The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.

 

Deuteronomy 18

 

18:10 There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, a sorcerer,

 

18:11 one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer.

 

18:12 Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things the Lord your God is about to drive them out from before you.

 

18:13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God.

 

18:14 Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to omen readers and diviners, but the Lord your God has not given you permission to do such things.

 

Isaiah 8

 

8:19 They will say to you, "Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?"

 

8:20 Then you must recall the Lord's instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened.

 

[Guest wiki]

Divination is considered a sin in Islam, Judaism, as well as most Christian denominations; although some methods, especially dream interpretation, do appear in Scripture.

 

Both oracles and seers in ancient Greece practiced divination. Oracles were the conduits for the gods on earth; their prophecies were understood to be the will of the gods verbatim. Because of the high demand for oracle consultations and the oracles’ limited work schedule, they were not the main source of divination for the ancient Greeks. That role fell to the seers (μαντείς in Greek)

Seers were not in direct contact with the gods; instead, they were interpreters of signs provided by the gods. Seers used many methods to explicate the will of the gods including extispicy, bird signs, etc. They were more numerous than the oracles and did not keep a limited schedule; thus, they were highly valued by all Greeks, not just those with the capacity to travel to Delphi or other such distant sites.

 

The disadvantage to seers was that only direct yes-or-no questions could be answered. Oracles could answer more generalized questions, and seers often had to perform several sacrifices in order to get the most consistent answer. For example, if a general wanted to know if the omens were proper for him to advance on the enemy, he would ask his seer both that question and if it were better for him to remain on the defensive. If the seer gave consistent answers, the advice was considered valid.

 

Divination was considered a pagan practice in the early Christian church. Later the Catholic Church would pass canon laws forbidding the practice of divination. In 692 the Quinisext Council, also known as the "Council in Trullo" in the Eastern Orthodox Church, passed canons to eliminate pagan and divination practices.Soothsaying and forms of divination were widespread through the Middle Ages. In the constitution of 1572 and public regulations of 1661 of Kur-Saxony, capital punishment was used on those predicting the future. Laws forbidding divination practice continue to this day.

 

Divination was a central component of ancient Mesoamerican religious life. Many Aztec gods, including central creator gods, were described as diviners and were closely associated with sorcery. Tezcatlipoca is the patron of sorcerers and practitioners of magic. His name means "smoking mirror", a reference to a device used for divinatory scrying. In the Mayan Popol Vuh, the creator gods Xmucane and Xpiacoc perform divinatory hand casting during the creation of people.

 

Every civilization that developed in Ancient Mexico, from the Olmecs to the Aztecs, practiced divination in daily life, both public and private. Scrying through the use of reflective water surfaces, mirrors, or the casting of lots were among the most widespread forms of divinatory practice. Visions derived from hallucinogens were another important form of divination, and are still widely used among contemporary diviners of Mexico. Among the more common hallucinogenic plants used in divination are morning glory, jimson weed, and peyote.

[Luke_Wilbur]

Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sanhedrin

Folio 65a

 

MISHNAH. A BA'AL OB IS THE PITHOM WHO SPEAKS FROM HIS ARMPIT. THE YIDDE'ONI ['A WIZARD'] IS ONE WHO SPEAKS FROM HIS MOUTH. THESE TWO ARE STONED; WHILST HE WHO ENQUIRES OF THEM TRANSGRESSES A FORMAL PROHIBITION.

 

GEMARA. Why are both a Ba'al ob and Yidde'oni mentioned here [as being executed], whilst in the list of those who are punished by extinction only Ba'al ob is included, but Yidde'oni is omitted? — R. Johanan said: Because both are stated in one negative precept. Resh Lakish said: Yidde'oni is omitted [in Kerithoth], because it involves no action. Now, according to R. Johanan, why is a Ba'al ob mentioned [rather than a Yidde'oni]? — Because it is written first in the Scripture. Now why does Resh Lakish reject R. Johanan's answer? — R. Papa said: They are stated separately in the verse decreeing death. But R. Johanan maintains: Offences which are distinct in their injunctions [there being a different one for each], are held to be separate [in their atonement]; but if only in the decree of death, they are not regarded as separate.

 

Now, why does R. Johanan reject Resh Lakish's answer? — He can tell you:

 

The Mishnah of Kerithoth is taught in accordance with R. Akiba's views, that action is unnecessary [for a sin offering to be incurred]. But Resh Lakish maintains:

 

Granted that R. Akiba does not require a great action, but he requires at least a small one.

 

But what action is there in blasphemy [which is included in the enumeration]? The movement of the lips. But what action is done by a Ba'al ob? — The knocking of his arms. Now, is this so even in the view of the Rabbis? But it has been taught: [The idolater] is liable [to a sacrifice] only for that which entails an action, e.g., sacrificing, burning incense, making libations and prostration. Whereon Resh Lakish observed: Which Tanna maintains that a sacrifice is due for prostration? R. Akiba, who rules that a deed entailing [much] action is unnecessary. But R. Johanan said: It even agrees with the Rabbis, for in bending his body, he performs an action.

 

Now, since Resh Lakish maintains that in the view of the Rabbis bending one's body is not regarded as an action, surely the knocking of the arms is not one?

 

Well then Resh Lakish's statement [that the Ba'al ob performs an action] is made on the view only of R. Akiba, but not of the Rabbis.

 

If so, should not the Mishnah there state, [but the Rabbis maintain that] the blasphemer and Ba'al ob are excluded? But 'Ulla answered: The Mishnah there refers to a Ba'al oh who burnt incense to a demon. Raba asked him: But is not burning incense to a demon idolatry? But Raba said:

 

It [i.e., the Ba'al ob in Kerithoth] refers to one who burns incense as a charm. Abaye said to him: But burning incense as a charm is to act as a charmer, which is merely prohibited by a negative precept? That is so, but the Torah decreed that such a charmer is stoned.

 

Our Rabbis taught: [There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or daughter pass through to the fire …] Or a charmer. This applies to one who charms large objects, and to one who charms small ones, even snakes and scorpions.

 

Abaye said: Therefore even to imprison wasps or scorpions [by charms], though the intention is to prevent them from doing harm, is forbidden.

 

Now, as for R. Johanan, why does he maintain that in the view of the Rabbis the bending of one's body [in prostration] is an action, whilst the movement of the lips is not? Raba said:

 

Blasphemy is different, since the offense lies in the intention.

 

 

ba'al ob literally means master of spirits.

 

pithom is an ancient city in Egypt

 

yidde'oni literally means gainer of information from ghosts

 

Kerithoth ("Excisions"), is the seventh section of the fifth order Kodashim of the Mishnah.that deals largely with the religious service within the Temple in Jerusalem.

 

Take moment to listen to Desmond Dekker and the Aces - Israelites

 

 

Imagine the resentment the Jews had in being slaves to Egypt and its magical monuments.

[Luke_Wilbur]

Jewish law on false prophets.

 

Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sanhedrin

Folio 65b

 

R. Zera objected:

 

False witnesses are excluded [from the necessity of a sin offering if they unwittingly offended], since their offense entails no action. But why so; their offense does not depend on intention? Raba answered:

 

False witnesses are different, because their offense is caused by sound. But does not R. Johanan regard sound as a [concrete] action? Has it not been stated:

 

If one frightened [lit. 'muzzled'] off an animal by his voice, or drove animals by his voice, R. Johanan ruled that he is liable to punishment, because the movement of his lips is an action; Resh Lakish ruled that he is not, because this is not an action?But Raba answered thus:

 

False witnesses are different, because their offense is caused through vision.

 

Our Rabbis taught:

 

A Ba'al ob is one who speaks from between the joints of his body and his elbow joints. A yidde'oni is one who places the bone of a yidoa'in his mouth and it speaks of itself. An objection is raised: And thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground:

 

surely that means that it speaks naturally? No. It ascends and seats itself between his joints and speaks. Come and hear:

 

And the woman said unto Saul, I saw a god-like form ascending out of the earth:

 

[And Samuel said to Saul …] surely that means that it spoke naturally? No. It settled itself between her joints and spoke.

 

Our Rabbis taught:

 

Ba'al ob denotes both him who conjures up the dead by means of soothsaying and one who consults a skull. What is the difference between them? The dead conjured up by soothsaying does not ascend naturally [but feet first], nor on the Sabbath; whilst if consulted by its skull it ascends naturally and on the Sabbath too.

 

[You say,] it ascends: but whither does not the skull lie before him? But say thus:

 

It answers naturally, and on the Sabbath too.

 

And this question was asked by Turnusrufus of R. Akiba: 'Wherein does this day [the Sabbath] differ from any other?' — He replied:

 

Wherein does one man differ from another?' 'Because my Lord [the Emperor] wishes it.' 'The Sabbath too,' R. Akiba rejoined, 'then, is distinguished because the Lord wishes so.' He replied:

 

'I ask this: Who tells you that this day is the Sabbath?' He answered:

 

'Let the river Sabbation prove it; let the Ba'al ob prove it; let thy father's grave, whence no smoke ascends on the Sabbath, prove it.' He said to him: 'You have shamed, disgraced, and reviled him [by this proof].'

 

He who enquireth of an ob is that not the same as one that consulteth the dead? As has been taught:

 

Or that consulteth the dead:

 

this means one who starves himself and spends the night in a cemetery, so that an unclean spirit [of a demon] may rest upon him [to enable him to foretell the future].

 

And when R. Akiba reached this verse, he wept:

 

If one who starves himself that an unclean spirit may rest upon him has his wish granted, he who fasts that the pure spirit [the Divine Presence] may rest upon him how much more should his desire be fulfilled! But alas! our sins have driven it away from us, as it is written, But your iniquities have separated between you and your God.

 

Raba said:

 

If the righteous desired it, they could [by living a life of absolute purity] be creators, for it is written, But your iniquities have distinguished between etc.Rabbah created a man, and sent him to R. Zera. R. Zera spoke to him, but received no answer. Thereupon he said unto him: 'Thou art a creature of the magicians. Return to thy dust.

 

R. Hanina and R. Oshaia spent every Sabbath eve in studying the 'Book of Creation', by means of which they created a third-grown calf and ate it.

 

Our Rabbis taught: Me'onen R. Simeon said:

 

That is one who applies the semen of seven male species to his eyes [in order to perform witchcraft]. The Sages say:

 

It is one who holds people's eyes.

 

R. Akiba said:

 

It is one who calculates the times and hours, saying, To-day is propitious for setting forth; tomorrow for making purchases; the wheat ripening on the eve of the seventh year is generally sound; let the beans be pulled up [instead of being harvested in the usual manner] to save them from becoming wormy.

 

Our Rabbis taught:

 

A Menahesh is one who says:

 

So and so's bread has fallen out of his hand; his staff has fallen out of his hand; his son called after him; a raven screamed after him, a deer has crossed his path; a serpent came at his right hand or a fox at his left;

 

A yidoa is the name of a beast or bird. Mishna in Kilayim (8:5) which refers to an animal called the adnei hasadeh,which according to some meforshim it is the creature called the yidoa which is half animal half plant. It has human like features and is connected to the ground with an umbilical cord .If the cord gets detached from the ground it dies.

 

In the ancient Near East the mandrake was a widely used symbol of erotic love because it was thought to be an aphrodisiac and therefore was used as a fertility drug. The unusual shape of the large forked roots of the mandrake resembles the human body with extended arms and legs. This similarity gave rise to the popular superstition that the mandrake could induce conception and it was therefore used as a fertility drug. It was so thoroughly associated with erotic love that its name is derived from the Hebrew root דּוֹד (dod, “love”), that is, דּוּדָאִים (duda’im) denotes “love-apples.” Arabs used its fruit and roots as an aphrodisiac and referred to it as abd al- sal’m (“servant of love”) (R. K. Harrison, “The Mandrake and the Ancient World,” EQ 28 [1956]: 188-89; Fauna and Flora of the Bible, 138-39).

 

 

Genesis 30

 

30:14 At the time of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

 

30:15 But Leah replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” Rachel said, “he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

 

30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me because I have paid for your services with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations with her that night.

 

30:17 God paid attention to Leah; she became pregnant and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time.

 

30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” So she named him Issachar.

 

Song of Songs 7

 

 

7:13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance;

over our door is every delicacy,

both new and old, which I have stored up for you, my lover.

 

In addition to love magic, witches believe mandrake roots possess the power to divine the future. More than one book on medieval Witchcraft and sorcery states that the human-shaped roots (both male and female) shake their heads to answer yes or no when questions are put to them.

[Guest wiki]

Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzirah, Hebrew, Sēpher Yəṣîrâh "Book of Formation," or "," ספר יצירה) is the title of the earliest extant book on Jewish esotericism. A cryptic story in the Babylonian Talmud states that "On the eve of every Shabbat, Judah HaNasi's pupils, Rab Hanina and Rab Hoshaiah, who devoted themselves especially to cosmogony, used to create a delicious calf by means of the Sefer Yetzirah, and ate it on the Sabbath." Mystics assert that the Biblical patriarch Abraham used the same method to create the calf prepared for the three angels who foretold Sarah's pregnancy in the Biblical account at Genesis 18:7. All the miraculous creations attributed to other rabbis of the Talmudic era are ascribed by rabbinic commentators to the use of the same book. It may even be said that this work had a greater influence on the development of the Jewish mind than almost any other book after the completion of the Talmud. With the exception of the Bible, scarcely any other book has been the subject of so much annotation.

 

The Qur'an speaks of a holy book by the name of Suhuf Ibrahim which translates to the scrolls of Abraham. Although most Muslims believe this book to have long perished it is speculated that this may be a reference to Sefer Yetzirah as Jewish Tradition generally ascribes authorship of that book to Abraham.

[Guest ضوء]

Surat Al-'A`lá (The Most High)

 

87:9

 

حتى أذكر، إذا كان التذكير ينبغي أن تستفيد؛

 

So remind, if the reminder should benefit;

 

87:10

 

هو الذي تخشى [الله] سيتم تذكير.

 

He who fears [ Allah ] will be reminded.

 

87:11

 

But the wretched one will avoid it -

 

87:12

 

[قال] الذين سوف [أدخل و] يحرق في النار أعظم،

 

[He] who will [enter and] burn in the greatest Fire,

 

87:13

 

الموت لا فيه ولا تعيش.

 

Neither dying therein nor living.

 

87:14

 

وقد نجح بالتأكيد الذي ينقي نفسه

 

He has certainly succeeded who purifies himself

 

87:15

 

ويذكر اسم ربه فصلى.

 

And mentions the name of his Lord and prays.

 

87:16

 

ولكن كنت تفضل الحياة الدنيا،

 

But you prefer the worldly life,

 

87:17

 

في حين أن الآخرة خير وأكثر ديمومة.

 

While the Hereafter is better and more enduring.

 

87:18

 

في الواقع، وهذا هو في الكتب المقدسة السابقة،

 

Indeed, this is in the former scriptures,

 

87:19

 

الكتاب المقدس إبراهيم وموسى.

 

The scriptures of Abraham and Moses.

[Guest ضوء]

Surat An-Najm (The Star)

 

53:33

 

هل رأيت احد الذين أعرضوا

 

Have you seen the one who turned away

 

53:34

 

وأعطى قليلا و[ثم] امتنع؟

 

And gave a little and [then] refrained?

 

53:35

 

هل لديه علم الغيب، حتى انه يرى؟

 

Does he have knowledge of the unseen, so he sees?

 

53:36

 

أو وقال انه لم أبلغ ما كان في الكتب المقدسة من موسى

 

Or has he not been informed of what was in the scriptures of Moses

 

53:37

 

و[من] إبراهيم، الذي تمم [التزاماته]

 

And [of] Abraham, who fulfilled [his obligations]

 

53:38

 

أن لا تزر وازرة سوف تتحمل وزر أخرى

 

That no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another

 

53:39

 

وأن هناك ليس هو للرجل إلا أن [حسن] والذي كان يسعى

 

And that there is not for man except that [good] for which he strives

 

53:40

 

وهذا الجهد يجري له أن ينظر إليها

 

And that his effort is going to be seen

 

53:41

 

ثم سيتم يجزى انه لذلك مع أقصى جزاء

 

Then he will be recompensed for it with the fullest recompense

 

53:42

 

وأن لربك هو غائية

 

And that to your Lord is the finality

 

53:43

 

وأنه هو الذي يجعل [واحدة] تضحك وتبكي

 

And that it is He who makes [one] laugh and weep

 

53:44

 

وأنه هو الذي يسبب الموت ويعطي الحياة

 

And that it is He who causes death and gives life

 

53:45

 

وأنه يخلق الاصحاب اثنين - من الذكور والإناث

 

And that He creates the two mates - the male and female

 

53:46

 

من نطفة عند خروجه

 

From a sperm-drop when it is emitted

 

53:47

 

وأنه [يتعين] عليه وسلم هو خلق المقبل

 

And that [incumbent] upon Him is the next creation

 

53:48

 

وأنه هو الذي يثري ويكفي

 

And that it is He who enriches and suffices

 

53:49

 

وأنه هو الذي هو رب الشعرى

 

And that it is He who is the Lord of Sirius

 

53:50

 

وانه دمر [شعب] أول 'عائض

 

And that He destroyed the first [people of] 'Aad

 

53:51

 

وثمود - وقال انه لا يدخر [لهم]

 

And Thamud - and He did not spare [them]

 

53:52

 

وقوم نوح من قبل. في الواقع، كان من هم الذين [حتى] أكثر الظالمة والجائرة.

 

And the people of Noah before. Indeed, it was they who were [even] more unjust and oppressing.

 

53:53

 

والمدن انقلبت والقوا أسفل

 

And the overturned towns He hurled down

 

53:54

 

وغطت لهم من قبل أن الذي غطى.

 

And covered them by that which He covered.

 

53:55

 

ثم أي من تفضل من ربك لا تشكون؟

 

Then which of the favors of your Lord do you doubt?

 

53:56

 

هذا [النبي] هو نذير مثل منذرون السابق.

 

This [Prophet] is a warner like the former warners.

 

53:57

 

وقد اقترب اقتراب يوم.

 

The Approaching Day has approached.

 

53:58

 

من ذلك، [من تلك] إلى جانب الله، وليس هناك المزيل.

 

Of it, [from those] besides Allah , there is no remover.

 

53:59

 

ثم في هذا البيان هل كنت أتساءل؟

 

Then at this statement do you wonder?

 

53:60

 

وكنت أضحك ولا أبكي

 

And you laugh and do not weep

 

53:61

 

بينما كنت بفخر الرياضية؟

 

While you are proudly sporting?

 

53:62

 

السجود ذلك إلى الله والعبادة [له].

 

So prostrate to Allah and worship [Him].

[Guest Thomas]

Book of Abraham

 

[Luke_Wilbur]

Mystics believe that by using the name of God in a special combination one can create life.

 

Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sanhedrin

Folio 65b

Footnote

 

The Book of Creation, Heb. Sefer Yezirah, is the title of two esoteric books. The older, referred to here, was a thaumaturgical work popular in the Talmudic period. It was also known as Hilkoth Yezirah (Laws of Creation), and is so called in the same story quoted on 67b. Rashi there states that the creation was performed by means of mystic combinations of the Divine Name, which does not come under the ban of witchcraft. Its basic idea is that the Creation was accomplished by means of the power inherent in those letters (Cf. Rab's saying: 'Bezalel knew how to combine the letters by which heaven and earth were created'. Ber. 55a. Cf. also Enoch LXI, 3 et seq.; Prayer of Manasseh: Ecc. R. III, 11 on the magic power of the letters of the Divine Name), and that this same power could be utilised in further creation. The work was ascribed to Abraham, which fact indicates an old tradition, and the possible antiquity of the book itself. It has affinities with Babylonian, Egyptian, and Hellenic mysticism and its origin has been placed in the second century B.C.E., when such a combination of influences might be expected. It is noteworthy that Raba's statement above, though not mentioning the Sefer Yezirah, insists on freedom from sin as a prerequisite of creation by man, v. J.E., XII, 602.

 

 

Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Berakoth

Folio 55a

 

Rab Judah also said in the name of Rab: There are three things for which one should supplicate: a good king, a good year, and a good dream.'A good king', as it is written: A king's heart is in the hands of the Lord as the water-courses.'A good year', as it is written: The eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. 'A good dream', as it is written; Wherefore cause Thou me to dream and make me to live.

 

R. Johanan said: There are three things which the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself proclaims, namely, famine, plenty, and a good leader. 'Famine', as it is written: The Lord hath called for a famine. 'Plenty', as it is written: I will call for the corn and will increase it. 'A good leader', as it is written: And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, See I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri.

 

R. Isaac said: We must not appoint a leader over a Community without first consulting it, as it says: See, the Lord hath called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses:

 

Do you consider Bezalel suitable? He replied:

 

Sovereign of the Universe, if Thou thinkest him suitable, surely I must also!

 

Said [God] to him:

 

All the same, go and consult them.

 

He went and asked Israel:

 

Do you consider Bezalel suitable? They replied:

 

If the Holy One, blessed be He, and you consider him suitable, surely we must!

 

R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in the name of R. Johanan:

 

Bezalel was so called on account of his wisdom. At the time when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses;

 

Go and tell Bezalel to make me a tabernacle, an ark and vessels, Moses went and reversed the order, saying, Make an ark and vessels and a tabernacle.

 

Bezalel said to him:

 

Moses, our Teacher, as a rule a man first builds a house and then brings vessels into it; but you say, Make me an ark and vessels and a tabernacle. Where shall I put the vessels that I am to make? Can it be that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to you, Make a tabernacle, an ark and vessels?

 

Moses replied:

 

Perhaps you were in the shadow of God and knew!

 

Rab Judah said in the name of Rab:

 

Bezalel knew how to combine the letters by which the heavens and earth were created. It is written here, And He hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom and in understanding, and in knowledge, and it is written elsewhere, The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens, and it is also written, By His knowledge the depths were broken up.

 

R. Johanan said:

 

The Holy One, blessed be He, gives wisdom only to one who already has wisdom, as it says, He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.

 

R. Tahlifa from the West heard and repeated it before R. Abbahu. He said to him:

 

You learn it from there, but we learn it from this text, namely, In the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom.

 

R. Hisda said:

 

Any dream rather than one of a fast.

 

R. Hisda also said: A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which is not read. R. Hisda also said:

 

Neither a good dream nor a bad dream is ever wholly fulfilled.

 

R. Hisda also said:

 

A bad dream is better than a good dream.

 

R. Hisda also said:

 

The sadness caused by a bad dream is sufficient for it and the joy which a good dream gives is sufficient for it.

 

R. Joseph said: Even for me the joy caused by a good dream nullifies it. R. Hisda also said:

 

A bad dream is worse than scourging, since it says, God hath so made it that men should fear before Him, and Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said in the name of R. Johanan:

 

This refers to a bad dream.

 

A prophet that hath a dream let him tell a dream: and he that hath My word let him speak My word faithfully.

 

What hath the straw to do with the wheat, saith the Lord.

 

What is the connection of straw and wheat with a dream? The truth is, said R. Johanan in the name of R. Simeon b. Yohai, that just as wheat cannot be without straw, so there cannot be a dream without some nonsense.

 

R. Berekiah said:

 

While a part of a dream may be fulfilled, the whole of it is never fulfilled. Whence do we know this? From Joseph, as it is written, And behold the sun and the moon [and eleven stars bowed down to me,] and

 

This continues to the next tract.

 

Berakoth 55b

 

at that time his mother was not living. R. Levi said:

 

A man should await the fulfillment of a good dream for as much as twenty-two years. Whence do we know this? From Joseph. For it is written:

 

These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph being seventeen years old, etc.; and it is further written, And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh. How many years is it from seventeen to thirty? Thirteen. Add the seven years of plenty and two of famine, and you have twenty-two.

 

R. Huna said:

 

A good man is not shown a good dream, and a bad man is not shown a bad dream.

 

It has been taught similarly; David, during the whole of his lifetime, never saw a good dream and Ahitophel, during the whole of his lifetime, never saw a bad dream. But it is written, There shall no evil befall thee, and R. Hisda said, in the name of R. Jeremiah:

 

this means that you will not be disturbed either by bad dreams or by evil thoughts, neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent … i.e., thou shalt not find thy wife doubtfully menstruous when thou returnest from a journey? — Though he does not see an evil dream, others see one about him. But if he does not see one, is this considered an advantage? Has not R. Ze'ira said:

 

If a man goes seven days without a dream he is called evil, since it says, He shall abide satisfied, he shall not be visited by evil? — Read not sabe'a [satisfied] but [seven] sheba'. What he means is this:

 

He sees, but he does not remember what he has seen.

 

R. Huna b. Ammi said in the name of R. Pedath who had it from R. Johanan:

 

If one has a dream which makes him sad he should go and have it interpreted in the presence of three. He should have it interpreted!

 

Has not R. Hisda said:

 

A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which is not read? — Say rather then, he should have a good turn given to it in the presence of three. Let him bring three and say to them:

 

I have seen a good dream; and they should say to him, Good it is and good may it be. May the All-Merciful turn it to good; seven times may it be decreed from heaven that it should be good and may it be good. They should say three verses with the word hapak [turn], and three with the word padah [redeem] and three with the word shalom [peace]. Three with the word 'turn', namely

 

(i) Thou didst turn for me my mourning into dancing, Thou didst loose my sackcloth and gird me with gladness;

(ii) Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow;10 (iii) Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee.

 

Three verses with the word 'redeem', namely,

 

(i) He hath redeemed my soul in peace, so that none came nigh me;

(ii) And the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion … and sorrow and sighing shall flee away;

(iii) And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? … So the people redeemed Jonathan that he died not.

 

Three verses with the word 'peace', namely,

 

(i) Peace, peace, to him that is far off and to him that is near, saith the Lord that createth the fruit of the lips; and I will heal him;

(ii) Then the spirit clothed Amasai who was chief of the captains: Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: Peace, peace, be unto thee and peace be to thy helpers, for thy God helpeth thee;

(iii) Thus ye shall say: All hail! and peace be both unto thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.

 

Amemar, Mar Zutra and R. Ashi were once sitting together. They said: Let each of us say something which the others have not heard. One of them began:

 

If one has seen a dream and does not remember what he saw, let him stand before the priests at the time when they spread out their hands, and say as follows:

 

'Sovereign of the Universe, I am Thine and my dreams are Thine. I have dreamt a dream and I do not know what it is. Whether I have dreamt about myself or my companions have dreamt about me, or I have dreamt about others, if they are good dreams, confirm them and reinforce them like the dreams of Joseph, and if they require a remedy, heal them, as the waters of Marah were healed by Moses, our teacher, and as Miriam was healed of her leprosy and Hezekiah of his sickness, and the waters of Jericho by Elisha. As thou didst turn the curse of the wicked Balaam into a blessing, so turn all my dreams into something good for me'. He should conclude his prayer along with the priests, so that the congregation may answer, Amen!

 

If he cannot manage this,he should say:

 

Thou who art majestic on high, who abidest in might, Thou art peace and Thy name is peace. May it be Thy will to bestow peace on us.

 

The second commenced and said:

 

If a man on going into a town is afraid of the Evil Eye, let him take the thumb of his right hand in his left hand and the thumb of his left hand in his right hand, and say: I, so-and-so, am of the seed of Joseph over which the evil eye has no power, as it says:

 

Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a fountain. Do not read 'ale 'ayin [by a fountain] but 'ole 'ayin [overcoming the evil eye].

 

R. Jose b. R. Hanina derived it from here: And let them grow into a multitude [weyidgu] in the midst of the earth; just as the fishes [dagim] in the sea are covered by the waters and the evil eye has no power over them so the evil eye has no power over the seed of Joseph. If he is afraid of his own evil eye, he should look at the side of his left nostril.

 

The third commenced and said:

 

If a man falls ill, the first day he should not tell anyone, so that he should not have bad luck; but after that he may tell. So when Raba fell ill, on the first day he did not tell anyone, but after that he said to his attendant: Go and announce that Raba is ill. Whoever loves him, let him pray for him, and whoever hates him, let him rejoice over him; for it is written: Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thy heart be glad when he stumbleth, lest the Lord see it and it displease Him and He turn away His wrath from him.

 

When Samuel had a bad dream, he used to say, The dreams speak falsely. When he had a good dream, he used to say, Do the dreams speak falsely, seeing that it is written, I [God] do speak with him in a dream?

 

Raba pointed out a contradiction. It is written, 'I do speak with him in a dream', and it is written, 'the dreams speak falsely'. — There is no contradiction; in the one case it is through an angel, in the other through a demon.

 

R. Bizna b. Zabda said in the name of R. Akiba who had it from R. Panda who had it from R. Nahum, who had it from R. Biryam reporting a certain elder — and who was this? R. Bana'ah: There were twenty-four interpreters of dreams in Jerusalem. Once I dreamt a dream and I went round to all of them and they all gave different interpretations, and all were fulfilled, thus confirming that which is said:

 

All dreams follow the mouth.

 

Is the statement that all dreams follow the mouth Scriptural? Yes, as stated by R. Eleazar. For R. Eleazar said:

 

Whence do we know that all dreams follow the mouth? Because it says, and it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was. Raba said:

 

This is only if the interpretation corresponds to the content of the dream: for it says, to each man according to his dream he did interpret. When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good. How did he know this? R. Eleazar says:

 

This tells us that each of them was shown his own dream and the interpretation of the other one's dream.

 

R. Johanan said: If one rises early and a Scriptural verse comes to his mouth, this is a kind of minor prophecy. R. Johanan also said:

 

Three kinds of dream are fulfilled: an early morning dream, a dream which a friend has about one, and a dream which is interpreted in the midst of a dream. Some add also, a dream which is repeated, as it says, and for that the dream was doubled unto Pharoah twice, etc.

 

R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in the name of R. Jonathan:

 

A man is shown in a dream only what is suggested by his own thoughts, as it says, As for thee, Oh King, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed. Or if you like, I can derive it from here: That thou mayest know the thoughts of the heart. Raba said:

 

This is proved by the fact that a man is never shown in a dream a date palm of gold, or an elephant going through the eye of a needle.

 

 

 

 

Sefer Yetzirah is an ancient Kabbalistic book is believed to be written by Abraham. Jewish mystics believe that Abraham also used a combination of of letters in God's name that he had learned to create a calf that was later consumed by three angels who visited him. These mystics believed Bezalel these words too.

 

Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzirah, Hebrew, Sēpher Yəṣîrâh "Book of Formation," or "," ספר יצירה) is the title of the earliest extant book on Jewish esotericism. A cryptic story in the Babylonian Talmud states that "On the eve of every Shabbat, Judah HaNasi's pupils, Rab Hanina and Rab Hoshaiah, who devoted themselves especially to cosmogony, used to create a delicious calf by means of the Sefer Yetzirah, and ate it on the Sabbath." Mystics assert that the Biblical patriarch Abraham used the same method to create the calf prepared for the three angels who foretold Sarah's pregnancy in the Biblical account at Genesis 18:7. All the miraculous creations attributed to other rabbis of the Talmudic era are ascribed by rabbinic commentators to the use of the same book.

 

Genesis 18 - New English Translation (NET)

 

18:3 He said, "My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant.

 

18:4 Let a little water be brought so that you may all wash your feet and rest under the tree.

 

18:5 And let me get a bit of food so that you may refresh yourselves since you have passed by your servant's home. After that you may be on your way." "All right," they replied, "you may do as you say."

 

18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, "Quick! Take three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread."

 

18:7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it.

 

18:8 Abraham then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food before them. They ate while he was standing near them under a tree.

 

Tanakh Genesis (Bereishit) Chapter 7

 

3. And he said, "My lords, if only I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass on from beside your servant.

 

4. Please let a little water be taken, and bathe your feet, and recline under the tree.

 

5. And I will take a morsel of bread, and sustain your hearts; after[wards] you shall pass on, because you have passed by your servant." And they said, "So shall you do, as you have spoken."

 

6. And Abraham hastened to the tent to Sarah, and he said, "Hasten three seah of meal [and] fine flour; knead and make cakes."

 

7. And to the cattle did Abraham run, and he took a calf, tender and good, and he gave it to the youth, and he hastened to prepare it.

 

8. And he took cream and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and he placed [them] before them, and he was standing over them under the tree, and they ate.

 

Avenu Malkenu by Phish

 

 

Prayer for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah

 

Àvinu Malkénu, ’éin lànu mèlèch ’èlà’ ’Àtàh. ’Àvinu Malkénu ‘aséh ‘imànu lema‘an shmèchà.

 

Our Father, our King, there is no other sovereign but You. Our Father, our King, do with us for your name's sake

 

http://www.lindahirs...u_malkeinu.html

[Guest wiki]

Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses

 

The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses is an 18th- or 19th-century magical text allegedly written by Moses, and passed down as hidden (or lost) books of the Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch. A grimoire, a text of magical incantations and seals, it purports to instruct the reader in the spells used to create the miracles portrayed in the Judaeo-Christian Bible. The work was printed with annexes or reputed Talmudic magic names, words and incantation, many taken from Christian biblical passages. It shows diagrams of "Seals": magical drawings accompanied by incantations intended to perform various tasks, from controlling weather or people to contacting the dead or Christian religious figures. Copies have been traced to 18th century German pamphlets, but an 1849 printing, aided by the appearance of the popular press in the 19th century, spread the text through Germany and Northern Europe, to German immigrants in the United States and eventually helped popularize the texts among African Americans in the South and Caribbean, and Anglophone West Africa. It influenced European Occult Spiritualism, as well as popular religious movements in the American South (Hoodoo), the Caribbean (Rastafarian), and West Africa.

 

No first version of this work has been established, but early versions began to appear as inexpensive pamphlets in German in the 18th century. Elements of the "Seventh Book", such as “The Seven Semiphoras of Adam” and “The Seven Semiphoras of Moses” appear to have come from the seventh book of the earlier European copies of the late Roman era Liber Salomonis. The work came to wide prominence when published as volume 6 of Bibliothek der Zauber-Geheimniss- und Offenbarungs-Bücher, etc. in 1849 in Stuttgart by antiquarian Johann Scheible.

Historian Owen Davies traces copies of the work from the 18th century in Germany. After circulating there, the work was popularized in the United States first in the communities of the Pennsylvania Dutch.

 

In the early 19th-century European or European-American grimoires were popular among immigrants and in rural communities where the folk traditions of Europe, intertwined with European religious mysticism, survived. One of the earliest American grimoires is John George Hohman's Pow-wows: or, Long Lost Friend, a collection of magical spells originally published in 1820 for Pennsylvania-Dutch spirtualists, known as "hexmeisters".

 

While versions of The Sixth and Seventh Books were likely passed around German immigrant communities from the late 18th century, the 1849 Leipzig copy was followed by a New York printing, in German, in 1865, and an English translation in 1880. The growth of inexpensive paperback publication in the 19th century, like those of Chicago occult publisher L.W. de Laurence, helped the work gain popularity outside German communities.

 

Its prominence as a source of popular rural Pennsylvanian and Appalachian "folk magic" spells has been recorded as late as the mid-20th century.

[Guest Daven]

The path of Jewish Mysticism, begins with the Torah (the books of scripture) and then to the

and the Talmud (Jewish Law).

[Luke_Wilbur]

At this point you may start seeing a divergence from understanding God and his Commands directly from of the Old Testament (Torah) is different from the legal rabbinical interpretations of the Talmud, and the mystical interpretations of the Sefer Yetzirah and Kabbala. Finally, we have the Qur'an which further diverges from Old Testament in its interpretations of God's Commands.

All books revere Gods name. But, interpret whether it is just to manipulate His name to harness his power of creation. The question comes to my mind whether this is the vanity God speaks against. All books do not endorse demons, but there is question on whether it is just to use their power.

I would like to now focus on the New Testament scripture and Christ's opinion on this matter. In my belief, he is the greatest rabbinical lawyer of them all.

Matthew 22

 

22:34 Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together.

22:35 And one of them, an expert in religious law, asked him a question to test him:

22:36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

22:37 Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

22:39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

22:40 All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Jesus was referring to the very heart of Jewish confession and faith.

Deuteronomy 6

 

6:4 Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!

6:5 You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.

Having solved the question. Jesus countered with his own.

Matthew 22

 

22:41 While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus asked them a question:

22:42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said, “The son of David.”

22:43 He said to them, “How then does David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying,

22:44 ‘The Lord said to my lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

This is where great debate comes.

The Christian interpretation of Psalm 110

 

110:1 A psalm of David.
Here is the Lord’s proclamation to my lord:
“Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool!”

110:2 The Lord extends your dominion from Zion.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!

110:3 Your people willingly follow you when you go into battle.
On the holy hills at sunrise the dew of your youth belongs to you.

110:4 The Lord makes this promise on oath and will not revoke it:
“You are an eternal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.”

110:5 O sovereign Lord, at your right hand
he strikes down kings in the day he unleashes his anger.

110:6 He executes judgment against the nations;
he fills the valleys with corpses;
he shatters their heads over the vast battlefield.

110:7 From the stream along the road he drinks;
then he lifts up his head.

Peter explains Psalm 110:1

Acts 2

 

2:22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know –

2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles.

2:24 But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power.

2:25 For David says about him,
‘I saw the Lord always in front of me,
for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken.

2:26 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced;
my body also will live in hope,

2:27 because you will not leave my soul in Hades,
nor permit your Holy One to experience decay.

2:28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of joy with your presence.’

2:29 “Brothers, I can speak confidently to you about our forefather David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

2:30 So then, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne,

2:31 David by foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his body experience decay.

2:32 This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it.

2:33 So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out what you both see and hear.

2:34 For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says,
‘The Lord said to my lord,
“Sit at my right hand

2:35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’

2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.”

Here is the Jewish interpretation of Psalm 110.1

Tehillim - Psalms - Chapter 110

 

1. Of David a psalm. The word of the Lord to my master; "Wait for My right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool at your feet."

2. The staff of your might the Lord will send from Zion; rule in the midst of your enemies.

3. Your people will volunteer on the day of your host, because of the beauty of holiness when you fell from the womb; for you, your youth is like dew.

4. The Lord swore and will not repent; you are a priest forever because of the speech of Malchizedek.

5. The Lord, on your right hand, has crushed kings on the day of His wrath.

6. He will execute justice upon the nations [into] a heap of corpses; He crushed the head on a great land.

Jewish rabbis interpret "The word of the Lord to my master" is reference to Abraham "my lord; you are a prince of God in our midst" from the world's first legal written transfer of land deed.

Bereishit - Genesis - Chapter 23

 

1. And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years; [these were] the years of the life of Sarah.

2. And Sarah died in Kiriath arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to eulogize Sarah and to bewail her.

3. And Abraham arose from before his dead, and he spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,

4. "I am a stranger and an inhabitant with you. Give me burial property with you, so that I may bury my dead from before me."

5. And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,

6. "Listen to us, my lord; you are a prince of God in our midst; in the choicest of our graves bury your dead. None of us will withhold his grave from you to bury your dead."

7. And Abraham arose and prostrated himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth.

8. And he spoke with them, saying, "If it is your will that I bury my dead from before me, listen to me and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar.

9. That he may give me the Machpelah (double) Cave, which belongs to him, which is at the end of his field; for a full price let him give it to me in your midst for burial property."

10. Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth, of all those who had come into the gate of his city, saying,

11. "No, my lord, listen to me. I have given you the field, and the cave that is in it, I have given it to you. Before the eyes of the sons of my people, I have given it to you; bury your dead."

12. And Abraham prostrated himself before the people of the land.

13. And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "But, if only you would listen to me. I am giving the money for the field; take [it] from me, and I will bury my dead there."

14. And Ephron replied to Abraham, saying to him,

15. "My lord, listen to me; a [piece of] land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is it between me and you? Bury your dead."

16. And Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, accepted by the merchant.

17. And so the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, facing Mamre, was established (as Abraham's possession). [This included] the field and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within its entire border around.

18. [it was] to Abraham as a possession before the eyes of the sons of Heth, in the presence of all who had come within the gate of his city

Take a break from reading and listen to the lyrics of Audra Lynn's "Song of Abraham."

 

Faith is the assurance
The evidence of things unseen
You reward the one who seeks
Who does not see and yet believes

I will not doubt Your promises
Though many as the stars above
For I am on a pilgrimage
I'm searching for the King of Love

I walk by faith and not by sight
You give me grace to lift my eyes
I see Your face and it gives me life
To run the race, to fight the fight
The fight of faith

Faith is the assurance
The evidence of things unseen
You reward the one who seeks
Who does not see and yet believes

I will not doubt Your promises
Though many as the stars above
For I am on a pilgrimage
I'm searching for the King of Love

I walk by faith and not by sight
You give me grace to lift my eyes
I see Your face and it gives me life
To run the race, to fight the fight

The fight of faith
'Cause I'm looking for a city
A city in the sky
I'm looking for a city
To come down, to come down

'Cause I'm looking for a city
Whose builder and maker is God
I'm looking for a city
To come down, to come down

[Luke_Wilbur]

THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS

 

BOOK II. Containing The Interval Of Two Hundred And Twenty Years.—From The Death Of Isaac To The Exodus Out Of Egypt.

 

CHAPTER 12. Concerning The Burning Bush And The Rod Of Moses.

 

By Flavius Josephus

 

1. Now Moses, when he had obtained the favor of Jethro, for that was one of the names of Raguel, staid there and fed his flock; but some time afterward, taking his station at the mountain called Sinai, he drove his flocks thither to feed them. Now this is the highest of all the mountains thereabout, and the best for pasturage, the herbage being there good; and it had not been before fed upon, because of the opinion men had that God dwelt there, the shepherds not daring to ascend up to it; and here it was that a wonderful prodigy happened to Moses; for a fire fed upon a thorn bush, yet did the green leaves and the flowers continue untouched, and the fire did not at all consume the fruit branches, although the flame was great and fierce. Moses was aftrighted at this strange sight, as it was to him; but he was still more astonished when the fire uttered a voice, and called to him by name, and spake words to him, by which it signified how bold he had been in venturing to come into a place whither no man had ever come before, because the place was divine; and advised him to remove a great way off from the flame, and to be contented with what he had seen; and though he were himself a good man, and the offspring of great men, yet that he should not pry any further; and he foretold to him, that he should have glory and honor among men, by the blessing of God upon him. He also commanded him to go away thence with confidence to Egypt, in order to his being the commander and conductor of the body of the Hebrews, and to his delivering his own people from the injuries they suffered there: "For," said God, "they shall inhabit this happy land which your forefather Abraham inhabited, and shall have the enjoyment of all good things." But still he enjoined them, when he brought the Hebrews out of the land of Egypt, to come to that place, and to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving there, Such were the divine oracles which were delivered out of the fire.

 

2. But Moses was astonished at what he saw, and much more at what he heard; and he said, "I think it would be an instance of too great madness, O Lord, for one of that regard I bear to thee, to distrust thy power, since I myself adore it, and know that it has been made manifest to my progenitors: but I am still in doubt how I, who am a private man, and one of no abilities, should either persuade my own countrymen to leave the country they now inhabit, and to follow me to a land whither I lead them; or, if they should be persuaded, how can I force Pharaoh to permit them to depart, since they augment their own wealth and prosperity by the labors and works they put upon them?"

 

3. But God persuaded him to be courageous on all occasions, and promised to be with him, and to assist him in his words, when he was to persuade men; and in his deeds, when he was to perform wonders. He bid him also to take a signal of the truth of what he said, by throwing his rod upon the ground, which, when he had done, it crept along, and was become a serpent, and rolled itself round in its folds, and erected its head, as ready to revenge itself on such as should assault it; after which it become a rod again as it was before. After this God bid Moses to put his right hand into his bosom: he obeyed, and when he took it out it was white, and in color like to chalk, but afterward it returned to its wonted color again. He also, upon God's command, took some of the water that was near him, and poured it upon the ground, and saw the color was that of blood. Upon the wonder that Moses showed at these signs, God exhorted him to be of good courage, and to be assured that he would be the greatest support to him; and bid him make use of those signs, in order to obtain belief among all men, that "thou art sent by me, and dost all things according to my commands. Accordingly I enjoin thee to make no more delays, but to make haste to Egypt, and to travel night and day, and not to draw out the time, and so make the slavery of the Hebrews and their sufferings to last the longer."

 

4. Moses having now seen and heard these wonders that assured him of the truth of these promises of God, had no room left him to disbelieve them: he entreated him to grant him that power when he should be in Egypt; and besought him to vouchsafe him the knowledge of his own name; and since he had heard and seen him, that he would also tell him his name, that when he offered sacrifice he might invoke him by such his name in his oblations. Whereupon God declared to him his holy name, which had never been discovered to men before; concerning which it is not lawful for me to say any more. Now these signs accompanied Moses, not then only, but always when he prayed for them: of all which signs he attributed the firmest assent to the fire in the bush; and believing that God would be a gracious supporter to him, he hoped he should be able to deliver his own nation, and bring calamities on the Egyptians.

 

BOOK III. Containing The Interval Of Two Years.—From The Exodus Out Of Egypt, To The Rejection Of That Generation.

 

CHAPTER 5. How Moses Ascended Up To Mount Sinai, And Received Laws From God, And Delivered Them To The Hebrews.

 

1. Now Moses called the multitude together, and told them that he was going from them unto mount Sinai to converse with God; to receive from him, and to bring back with him, a certain oracle; but he enjoined them to pitch their tents near the mountain, and prefer the habitation that was nearest to God, before one more remote. When he had said this, he ascended up to Mount Sinai, which is the highest of all the mountains that are in that country and is not only very difficult to be ascended by men, on account of its vast altitude, but because of the sharpness of its precipices also; nay, indeed, it cannot be looked at without pain of the eyes: and besides this, it was terrible and inaccessible, on account of the rumor that passed about, that God dwelt there. But the Hebrews removed their tents as Moses had bidden them, and took possession of the lowest parts of the mountain; and were elevated in their minds, in expectation that Moses would return from God with promises of the good things he had proposed to them. So they feasted and waited for their conductor, and kept themselves pure as in other respects, and not accompanying with their wives for three days, as he had before ordered them to do. And they prayed to God that he would favorably receive Moses in his conversing with him, and bestow some such gift upon them by which they might live well. They also lived more plentifully as to their diet; and put on their wives and children more ornamental and decent clothing than they usually wore.

 

2. So they passed two days in this way of feasting; but on the third day, before the sun was up, a cloud spread itself over the whole camp of the Hebrews, such a one as none had before seen, and encompassed the place where they had pitched their tents; and while all the rest of the air was clear, there came strong winds, that raised up large showers of rain, which became a mighty tempest. There was also such lightning, as was terrible to those that saw it; and thunder, with its thunderbolts, were sent down, and declared God to be there present in a gracious way to such as Moses desired he should be gracious. Now, as to these matters, every one of my readers may think as he pleases; but I am under a necessity of relating this history as it is described in the sacred books. This sight, and the amazing sound that came to their ears, disturbed the Hebrews to a prodigious degree, for they were not such as they were accustomed to; and then the rumor that was spread abroad, how God frequented that mountain, greatly astonished their minds, so they sorrowfully contained themselves within their tents, as both supposing Moses to be destroyed by the Divine wrath, and expecting the like destruction for themselves.

 

3. When they were under these apprehensions, Moses appeared as joyful and greatly exalted. When they saw him, they were freed from their fear, and admitted of more comfortable hopes as to what was to come. The air also was become clear and pure of its former disorders, upon the appearance of Moses; whereupon he called together the people to a congregation, in order to their hearing what God would say to them: and when they were gathered together, he stood on an eminence whence they might all hear him, and said, "God has received me graciously, O Hebrews, as he has formerly done; and has suggested a happy method of living for you, and an order of political government, and is now present in the camp: I therefore charge you, for his sake and the sake of his works, and what we have done by his means, that you do not put a low value on what I am going to say, because the commands have been given by me that now deliver them to you, nor because it is the tongue of a man that delivers them to you; but if you have a due regard to the great importance of the things themselves, you will understand the greatness of Him whose institutions they are, and who has not disdained to communicate them to me for our common advantage; for it is not to be supposed that the author of these institutions is barely Moses, the son of Amram and Jochebed, but He who obliged the Nile to run bloody for your sakes, and tamed the haughtiness of the Egyptians by various sorts of judgments; he who provided a way through the sea for us; he who contrived a method of sending us food from heaven, when we were distressed for want of it; he who made the water to issue out of a rock, when we had very little of it before; he by whose means Adam was made to partake of the fruits both of the land and of the sea; he by whose means Noah escaped the deluge; he by whose means our forefather Abraham, of a wandering pilgrim, was made the heir of the land of Canaan; he by whose means Isaac was born of parents that were very old; he by whose means Jacob was adorned with twelve virtuous sons; he by whose means Joseph became a potent lord over the Egyptians; he it is who conveys these instructions to you by me as his interpreter. And let them be to you venerable, and contended for more earnestly by you than your own children and your own wives; for if you will follow them, you will lead a happy life you will enjoy the land fruitful, the sea calm, and the fruit of the womb born complete, as nature requires; you will be also terrible to your enemies for I have been admitted into the presence of God and been made a hearer of his incorruptible voice so great is his concern for your nation, and its duration."

 

4. When he had said this, he brought the people, with their wives and children, so near the mountain, that they might hear God himself speaking to them about the precepts which they were to practice; that the energy of what should be spoken might not be hurt by its utterance by that tongue of a man, which could but imperfectly deliver it to their understanding. And they all heard a voice that came to all of them from above, insomuch that no one of these words escaped them, which Moses wrote on two tables; which it is not lawful for us to set down directly, but their import we will declare.

 

5. The first commandment teaches us that there is but one God, and that we ought to worship him only. The second commands us not to make the image of any living creature to worship it. The third, that we must not swear by God in a false matter. The fourth, that we must keep the seventh day, by resting from all sorts of work. The fifth, that we must honor our parents. The sixth that we must abstain from murder. The seventh that we must not commit adultery. The eighth, that we must not be guilty of theft. The ninth, that we must not bear false witness. The tenth, that we must not admit of the desire of any thing that is another's.

 

6. Now when the multitude had heard God himself giving those precepts which Moses had discoursed of, they rejoiced at what was said; and the congregation was dissolved: but on the following days they came to his tent, and desired him to bring them, besides, other laws from God. Accordingly he appointed such laws, and afterwards informed them in what manner they should act in all cases; which laws I shall make mention of in their proper time; but I shall reserve most of those laws for another work, 11 and make there a distinct explication of them.

 

7. When matters were brought to this state, Moses went up again to Mount Sinai, of which he had told them beforehand. He made his ascent in their sight; and while he staid there so long a time, [for he was absent from them forty days,] fear seized upon the Hebrews, lest Moses should have come to any harm; nor was there any thing else so sad, and that so much troubled them, as this supposal that Moses was perished. Now there was a variety in their sentiments about it; some saying that he was fallen among wild beasts; and those that were of this opinion were chiefly such as were ill-disposed to him; but others said that he was departed, and gone to God; but the wiser sort were led by their reason to embrace neither of those opinions with any satisfaction, thinking, that as it was a thing that sometimes happens to men to fall among wild beasts and perish that way, so it was probable enough that he might depart and go to God, on account of his virtue; they therefore were quiet, and expected the event: yet were they exceeding sorry upon the supposal that they were deprived of a governor and a protector, such a one indeed as they could never recover again; nor would this suspicion give them leave to expect any comfortable event about this man, nor could they prevent their trouble and melancholy upon this occasion. However, the camp durst not remove all this while, because Moses had bidden them afore to stay there.

 

8. But when the forty days, and as many nights, were over, Moses came down, having tasted nothing of food usually appointed for the nourishment of men. His appearance filled the army with gladness, and he declared to them what care God had of them, and by what manner of conduct of their lives they might live happily; telling them, that during these days of his absence he had suggested to him also that he would have a tabernacle built for him, into which he would descend when he came to them, and how we should carry it about with us when we remove from this place; and that there would be no longer any occasion for going up to Mount Sinai, but that he would himself come and pitch his tabernacle amongst us, and be present at our prayers; as also, that the tabernacle should be of such measures and construction as he had shown him, and that you are to fall to the work, and prosecute it diligently. When he had said this, he showed them the two tables, with the ten commandments engraven upon them, five upon each table; and the writing was by the hand of God.

[Luke_Wilbur]

THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS

 

BOOK III. Containing The Interval Of Two Years.—From The Exodus Out Of Egypt, To The Rejection Of That Generation.

 

CHAPTER 8. Of The Priesthood Of Aaron.

 

By Flavius Josephus

 

1. When what has been described was brought to a conclusion, gifts not being yet presented, God appeared to Moses, and enjoined him to bestow the high priesthood upon Aaron his brother, as upon him that best of them all deserved to obtain that honor, on account of his virtue. And when he had gathered the multitude together, he gave them an account of Aaron's virtue, and of his good-will to them, and of the dangers he had undergone for their sakes. Upon which, when they had given testimony to him in all respects, and showed their readiness to receive him, Moses said to them, "O you Israelites, this work is already brought to a conclusion, in a manner most acceptable to God, and according to our abilities. And now since you see that he is received into this tabernacle, we shall first of all stand in need of one that may officiate for us, and may minister to the sacrifices, and to the prayers that are to be put up for us. And indeed had the inquiry after such a person been left to me, I should have thought myself worthy of this honor, both because all men are naturally fond of themselves, and because I am conscious to myself that I have taken a great deal of pains for your deliverance; but now God himself has determined that Aaron is worthy of this honor, and has chosen him for his priest, as knowing him to be the most righteous person among you. So that he is to put on the vestments which are consecrated to God; he is to have the care of the altars, and to make provision for the sacrifices; and he it is that must put up prayers for you to God, who will readily hear them, not only because he is himself solicitous for your nation, but also because he will receive them as offered by one that he hath himself chosen to this office." The Hebrews were pleased with what was said, and they gave their approbation to him whom God had ordained; for Aaron was of them all the most deserving of this honor, on account of his own stock and gift of prophecy, and his brother's virtue. He had at that time four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

 

2. Now Moses commanded them to make use of all the utensils which were more than were necessary to the structure of the tabernacle, for covering the tabernacle itself, the candlestick, and altar of incense, and the other vessels, that they might not be at all hurt when they journeyed, either by the rain, or by the rising of the dust. And when he had gathered the multitude together again, he ordained that they should offer half a shekel for every man, as an oblation to God; which shekel is a piece among the Hebrews, and is equal to four Athenian drachmae. Whereupon they readily obeyed what Moses had commanded; and the number of the offerers was six hundred and five thousand five hundred and fifty. Now this money that was brought by the men that were free, was given by such as were about twenty years old, but under fifty; and what was collected was spent in the uses of the tabernacle.

 

3. Moses now purified the tabernacle and the priests; which purification was performed after the following manner:—He commanded them to take five hundred shekels of choice myrrh, an equal quantity of cassia, and half the foregoing weight of cinnamon and calamus [this last is a sort of sweet spice]; to beat them small, and wet them with an bin of oil of olives [an hin is our own country measure, and contains two Athenian choas, or congiuses]; then mix them together, and boil them, and prepare them after the art of the apothecary, and make them into a very sweet ointment; and afterward to take it to anoint and to purify the priests themselves, and all the tabernacle, as also the sacrifices. There were also many, and those of various kinds, of sweet spices, that belonged to the tabernacle, and such as were of very great price, and were brought to the golden altar of incense; the nature of which I do not now describe, lest it should be troublesome to my readers; but incense was to be offered twice a-day, both before sun-rising and at sun-setting. They were also to keep oil already purified for the lamps; three of which were to give light all day long, 20 upon the sacred candlestick, before God, and the rest were to be lighted at the evening.

 

4. Now all was finished. Besaleel and Aholiab appeared to be the most skillful of the workmen; for they invented finer works than what others had done before them, and were of great abilities to gain notions of what they were formerly ignorant of; and of these, Besaleel was judged to be the best. Now the whole time they were about this work was the interval of seven months; and after this it was that was ended the first year since their departure out of Egypt. But at the beginning of the second year, on the month Xanthicus, as the Macedonians call it, but on the month Nisan, as the Hebrews call it, on the new moon, they consecrated the tabernacle, and all its vessels, which I have already described.

 

5. Now God showed himself pleased with the work of the Hebrews, and did not permit their labors to be in vain; nor did he disdain to make use of what they had made, but he came and sojourned with them, and pitched his tabernacle in the holy house. And in the following manner did he come to it:—The sky was clear, but there was a mist over the tabernacle only, encompassing it, but not with such a very deep and thick cloud as is seen in the winter season, nor yet in so thin a one as men might be able to discern any thing through it, but from it there dropped a sweet dew, and such a one as showed the presence of God to those that desired and believed it.

 

6. Now when Moses had bestowed such honorary presents on the workmen, as it was fit they should receive, who had wrought so well, he offered sacrifices in the open court of the tabernacle, as God commanded him; a bull, a ram, and a kid of the goats, for a sin-offering. Now I shall speak of what we do in our sacred offices in my discourse about sacrifices; and therein shall inform men in what cases Moses bid us offer a whole burnt-offering, and in what cases the law permits us to partake of them as of food. And when Moses had sprinkled Aaron's vestments, himself, and his sons, with the blood of the beasts that were slain, and had purified them with spring waters and ointment, they became God's priests. After this manner did he consecrate them and their garments for seven days together. The same he did to the tabernacle, and the vessels thereto belonging, both with oil first incensed, as I said, and with the blood of bulls and of rams, slain day by day one, according to its kind. But on the eighth day he appointed a feast for the people, and commanded them to offer sacrifice according to their ability. Accordingly they contended one with another, and were ambitious to exceed each other in the sacrifices which they brought, and so fulfilled Moses's injunctions. But as the sacrifices lay upon the altar, a sudden fire was kindled from among them of its own accord, and appeared to the sight like fire from a flash of lightning, and consumed whatsoever was upon the altar.

 

7. Hereupon an affliction befell Aaron, considered as a man and a father, but was undergone by him with true fortitude; for he had indeed a firmness of soul in such accidents, and he thought this calamity came upon him according to God's will: for whereas he had four sons, as I said before, the two elder of them, Nadab and Abihu, did not bring those sacrifices which Moses bade them bring, but which they used to offer formerly, and were burnt to death. Now when the fire rushed upon them, and began to burn them, nobody could quench it. Accordingly they died in this manner. And Moses bid their father and their brethren to take up their bodies, to carry them out of the camp, and to bury them magnificently. Now the multitude lamented them, and were deeply affected at this their death, which so unexpectedly befell them. But Moses entreated their brethren and their father not to be troubled for them, and to prefer the honor of God before their grief about them; for Aaron had already put on his sacred garments.

 

8. But Moses refused all that honor which he saw the multitude ready to bestow upon him, and attended to nothing else but the service of God. He went no more up to Mount Sinai; but he went into the tabernacle, and brought back answers from God for what he prayed for. His habit was also that of a private man, and in all other circumstances he behaved himself like one of the common people, and was desirous to appear without distinguishing himself from the multitude, but would have it known that he did nothing else but take care of them. He also set down in writing the form of their government, and those laws by obedience whereto they would lead their lives so as to please God, and so as to have no quarrels one among another. However, the laws he ordained were such as God suggested to him; so I shall now discourse concerning that form of government, and those laws.

 

9. I will now treat of what I before omitted, the garment of the high priest: for he [Moses] left no room for the evil practices of [false] prophets; but if some of that sort should attempt to abuse the Divine authority, he left it to God to be present at his sacrifices when he pleased, and when he pleased to be absent. And he was willing this should be known, not to the Hebrews only, but to those foreigners also who were there. For as to those stones, which we told you before, the high priest bare on his shoulders, which were sardonyxes, [and I think it needless to describe their nature, they being known to every body,] the one of them shined out when God was present at their sacrifices; I mean that which was in the nature of a button on his right shoulder, bright rays darting out thence, and being seen even by those that were most remote; which splendor yet was not before natural to the stone. This has appeared a wonderful thing to such as have not so far indulged themselves in philosophy, as to despise Divine revelation. Yet will I mention what is still more wonderful than this: for God declared beforehand, by those twelve stones which the high priest bare on his breast, and which were inserted into his breastplate, when they should be victorious in battle; for so great a splendor shone forth from them before the army began to march, that all the people were sensible of God's being present for their assistance. Whence it came to pass that those Greeks, who had a veneration for our laws, because they could not possibly contradict this, called that breastplate the Oracle. Now this breastplate, and this sardonyx, left off shining two hundred years before I composed this book, God having been displeased at the transgressions of his laws. Of which things we shall further discourse on a fitter opportunity; but I will now go on with my proposed narration.

 

10. The tabernacle being now consecrated, and a regular order being settled for the priests, the multitude judged that God now dwelt among them, and betook themselves to sacrifices and praises to God as being now delivered from all expectation of evils and as entertaining a hopeful prospect of better times hereafter. They offered also gifts to God some as common to the whole nation, and others as peculiar to themselves, and these tribe by tribe; for the heads of the tribes combined together, two by two, and brought a wagon and a yoke of oxen. These amounted to six, and they carried the tabernacle when they journeyed. Besides which, each head of a tribe brought a bowl, and a charger, and a spoon, of ten darics, full of incense. Now the charger and the bowl were of silver, and together they weighed two hundred shekels, but the bowl cost no more than seventy shekels; and these were full of fine flour mingled with oil, such as they used on the altar about the sacrifices. They brought also a young bullock, and a ram, with a lamb of a year old, for a whole burnt-offering, as also a goat for the forgiveness of sins. Every one of the heads of the tribes brought also other sacrifices, called peace-offerings, for every day two bulls, and five rams, with lambs of a year old, and kids of the goats. These heads of tribes were twelve days in sacrificing, one sacrificing every day. Now Moses went no longer up to Mount Sinai, but went into the tabernacle, and learned of God what they were to do, and what laws should be made; which laws were preferable to what have been devised by human understanding, and proved to be firmly observed for all time to come, as being believed to be the gift of God, insomuch that the Hebrews did not transgress any of those laws, either as tempted in times of peace by luxury, or in times of war by distress of affairs. But I say no more here concerning them, because I have resolved to compose another work concerning our laws.

[Guest ضوء]

Surat At-Tawbah (The Repentance)

 

9:30

 

ويقول اليهود، "عزرا هو ابن الله"، وقالت النصارى: "إن المسيح هو ابن الله." وهذا هو بيانهم من أفواههم، بل يقلد قول الذين كفروا [معروض]. جزاكم الله تدميرها؛ كيف يتم مخدوع؟

 

The Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah "; and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah ." That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?

 

9:31

 

وقد أحاطوا علمائهم ورهبانهم أربابا من الله، و[أيضا] المسيح، ابن مريم. وكانوا لا أمر إلا ليعبدون إله واحد، وليس هناك إله إلا الله. عز وجل فوق كل ما تشرك به.

 

They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah , and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with Him.

 

9:32

 

يريدون ليطفئوا نور الله بأفواههم ولكن الله يرفض إلا إلى الكمال نوره، على الرغم من أن الكافرين يكرهون ذلك.

 

They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah refuses except to perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it.

 

9:33

 

أنه هو الذي أرسل رسوله بالهدى ودين الحق لإظهار أنه على الدين كله، على الرغم من أنهم هم الذين المنتسبين الآخرين مع الله يكره ذلك.

 

It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion, although they who associate others with Allah dislike it.

 

9:34

 

يا أيها الذين آمنوا، في الواقع العديد من العلماء والرهبان يأكلون أموال الناس بالباطل وتجنب [لهم] عن سبيل الله. وأولئك الذين يكنزون الذهب والفضة ولا ينفقونها في سبيل الله - منحهم اخبار من عذاب أليم.

 

O you who have believed, indeed many of the scholars and the monks devour the wealth of people unjustly and avert [them] from the way of Allah . And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah - give them tidings of a painful punishment.

[Luke_Wilbur]

I posed this question on another topic "Islam - 3 reasons"

 

Peace be with you Ennin,

I am sorry, but I do not understand. My question is why do Islamic people think that Jews worship Ezra as the Son of God? There is no mention of this in any of their writings. So where did this idea originate?

 

I sometimes wonder if divisions are created between religions due to misunderstandings of word definitions. Sometimes they are difficult or impossible to translate. I am a Hispanic American Catholic that is devoted to better understanding faith. I have many Islamic friends and only ask this question in respect.

 

What is your interpretation of Psalm 8?

 

 

8:1 a psalm of David.

 

O Lord, our Lord,

how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above!

 

8:2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies

you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries,

so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy.

 

8:3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,

and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place,

 

8:4 Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them?

Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them,

 

8:5 and make them a little less than the heavenly beings?

You grant mankind honor and majesty;

 

8:6 you appoint them to rule over your creation;

you have placed everything under their authority,

 

8:7 including all the sheep and cattle,

as well as the wild animals,

 

8:8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea

and everything that moves through the currents of the seas.

 

8:9 O Lord, our Lord,

how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth!

The translation of the Hebrew son of man is replaced with "mankind" and refers to mortal human beings.

 

Now look at the Hebrew version.

 

Tehillim - 8

 

 

1. To the conductor, on the gittith, a song of David.

 

2. O Lord, our Master, how mighty is Your name in all the earth, for which You should bestow Your majesty upon the heavens.

 

3. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have established strength because of Your adversaries, in order to put an end to enemy and avenger.

 

4. When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars that You have established,

 

ה. מָה אֱנוֹשׁ כִּי תִזְכְּרֶנּוּ וּבֶן אָדָם כִּי תִפְקְדֶנּוּ:

 

5. what is man that You should remember him, and the son of man that You should be mindful of him?

 

ו. וַתְּחַסְּרֵהוּ מְעַט מֵאֱלֹהִים וְכָבוֹד וְהָדָר

תְּעַטְּרֵהוּ:

 

6. Yet You have made him slightly less than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and majesty.

 

7. You give him dominion over the work of Your hands; You have placed everything beneath his feet.

 

8. Flocks and cattle, all of them, and also the beasts of the field;

 

9. the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, he traverses the ways of the seas.

 

10. O Lord, our Master, how mighty is Your name in all the earth!

Our Blessed Creator completes David's Song

 

Hebrews 2

 

 

2:5 For he did not put the world to come, about which we are speaking, under the control of angels.

 

2:6 Instead someone testified somewhere:

What is man that you think of him or the son of man that you care for him?

 

2:7 You made him lower than the angels for a little while.

 

You crowned him with glory and honor.

 

2:8 You put all things under his control.

For when he put all things under his control, he left nothing outside of his control. At present we do not yet see all things under his control,

 

2:9 but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by Gods grace he would experience death on behalf of everyone.

 

2:10 For it was fitting for him, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

 

2:11 For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin, and so he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,

 

2:12 saying, I will proclaim your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.

 

2:13 Again he says, I will be confident in him, and again, Here I am, with the children God has given me.

 

2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy he one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil),

 

2:15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.

 

2:16 For surely his concern is not for angels, but he is concerned for Abrahams descendants.

 

2:17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.

 

2:18 For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

 

God crowned Jesus with glory and honor because He sacrificed his life and experienced death to atone for our sins and conquer Lucifer's grasp on mankind.

 

Take a break from reading and listen to an inspiring spirited voice.

 

Israel Houghton and New Breed: "I Am A Friend of God"

 

http://youtu.be/ZXFi6lUUz5s

 

We should revere God and consider Him our best friend. All religions can believe this.

[Guest Augustine]

There is a prohibition in the Torah to say God’s name in vain. See Shemot 20:6 (Exodus 20:6). Due to that prohibition Jews are very careful with pronunciations of God’s various names. In addition to that, Jews are also very careful with writing of God’s names since some of them cannot be erased and the paper on which they are written has to be buried out of respect and cannot be simply thrown in the garbage.

 

God’s four letter name is written in the Torah, as

 

יהוה

 

known in English as Tetragrammaton.

 

Outside of the service in Bet Hamikdash on Yom Kippur it was never pronounced.

 

When Berachot are said the name that is used is

 

אדני

 

(Adonai) which means “My Master”.

 

In general speech, not in religious services, even the name Adonai is not pronounced and instead the name

 

השם

 

(Hashem) is used, which simply means “The Name”.

 

There are various abbreviations that are used in Hebrew to represent these names without directly spelling them out. The name Hashem is usually abbreviated as

 

ה'

 

Tractate Berachot, Chapter 6

Tosefta 26

 

[A person] who begins [his Berachot (blessings)] with [God’s name that is represented by Hebrew letters] Yud Heh (i.e. Adonai) and ends [his Berachot] with [God’s name that is represented by Hebrew letters] Yud Heh (i.e. Adonai) is a wise person.

 

[A person who begins his Berachot] with [God’s name that is represented by Hebrew letters] Aleph Lamed (i.e. El or Elohim), but ends [his Berachot] with [God’s name that is represented by

Hebrew letters] Yud Heh (i.e. Adonai) is an average person.

 

[A person who begins his Berachot] with [God’s name that is represented by Hebrew letters] Yud Heh (i.e. Adonai), but ends [his Berachot] with [God’s name that is represented by Hebrew letters] Aleph Lamed (i.e. El or Elohim) is a boor (no fear of God).

 

[A person who begins his Berachot] with [God’s name that is represented by Hebrew letters] Aleph Lamed (i.e. El or Elohim), and ends [his Berachot] with [God’s name that is represented by Hebrew letters] Aleph Lamed (i.e. El or Elohim) follows a foreign way.

[Guest ضوء]

Surat Al-Mā'idah (The Table Spread)

 

5:11

 

O you who have believed, remember the favor of Allah upon you when a people determined to extend their hands [in aggression] against you, but He withheld their hands from you; and fear Allah . And upon Allah let the believers rely.

 

5:12

 

And Allah had already taken a covenant from the Children of Israel, and We delegated from among them twelve leaders. And Allah said, "I am with you. If you establish prayer and give zakah and believe in My messengers and support them and loan Allah a goodly loan, I will surely remove from you your misdeeds and admit you to gardens beneath which rivers flow. But whoever of you disbelieves after that has certainly strayed from the soundness of the way."

 

5:13

 

So for their breaking of the covenant We cursed them and made their hearts hard. They distort words from their [proper] usages and have forgotten a portion of that of which they were reminded. And you will still observe deceit among them, except a few of them. But pardon them and overlook [their misdeeds]. Indeed, Allah loves the doers of good.

 

5:14

 

And from those who say, "We are Christians" We took their covenant; but they forgot a portion of that of which they were reminded. So We caused among them animosity and hatred until the Day of Resurrection. And Allah is going to inform them about what they used to do.

 

5:15

 

O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture and overlooking much. There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book.

 

5:16

 

By which Allah guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darknesses into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path.

 

5:17

 

They have certainly disbelieved who say that Allah is Christ, the son of Mary. Say, "Then who could prevent Allah at all if He had intended to destroy Christ, the son of Mary, or his mother or everyone on the earth?" And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them. He creates what He wills, and Allah is over all things competent.

 

5:18

 

But the Jews and the Christians say, "We are the children of Allah and His beloved." Say, "Then why does He punish you for your sins?" Rather, you are human beings from among those He has created. He forgives whom He wills, and He punishes whom He wills. And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, and to Him is the [final] destination.

 

5:19

 

O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger to make clear to you [the religion] after a period [of suspension] of messengers, lest you say, "There came not to us any bringer of good tidings or a warner." But there has come to you a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And Allah is over all things competent.

 

5:20

 

And [mention, O Muhammad], when Moses said to his people, "O my people, remember the favor of Allah upon you when He appointed among you prophets and made you possessors and gave you that which He had not given anyone among the worlds.

 

5:21

 

O my people, enter the Holy Land which Allah has assigned to you and do not turn back [from fighting in Allah 's cause] and [thus] become losers."

[Luke_Wilbur]

Genesis 5

 

6:1 When humankind began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,

 

6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose.

 

6:3 So the Lord said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years.”

 

6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and also after this) when the sons of God were having sexual relations with the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children.They were the mighty heroes of old, the famous men.

 

6:5 But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time.

 

6:6 The Lord regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended.

 

6:7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”

 

 

Numbers 13

 

13:26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They reported to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.

 

13:27 They told Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It is indeed flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

 

13:28 But the inhabitants are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.

 

13:29 The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”

 

13:30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses, saying, “Let us go up and occupy it, for we are well able to conquer it.”

 

13:31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!”

 

13:32 Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging report of the land they had investigated, saying, “The land that we passed through to investigate is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there are of great stature.

 

13:33 We even saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we seemed liked grasshoppers both to ourselves and to them.”

[Guest wiki]

The term "Nephilim" occurs just twice in the Hebrew Bible, both in the Torah. The first is Genesis 6:1–4 NAS, immediately before the story of Noah's ark:

 

"Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown."

 

The second is Numbers 13:32–33 NAS, where the Twelve Spies report that they have seen fearsome giants in Canaan:

 

"So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we had gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

 

The nature of the nephilim is complicated by the ambiguity of Genesis 6:4, which leaves it unclear whether they are the "sons of God" or their offspring who are the "mighty men of old, men of renown". Richard Hess in The Anchor Bible Dictionary takes it to mean that the nephilim are the offspring, as does P. W. Coxon in Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible.

 

Evidence cited in favor of the "fallen angels" interpretation includes the fact that the phrase "the sons of God" (Hebrew, בְּנֵי הָֽאֱלֹהִים; literally "sons of the gods") is used twice outside of Genesis chapter 6, in the Book of Job (1:6 and 2:1) where the phrase explicitly references angels. The Septuagint's translation of Genesis 6:2 renders this phrase as "the angels of God.

 

The Nephilim mentioned in Numbers 13:33 were not actually present at the time. They were the intentional false story given by spies to scare the rest of the Israelites: implying that Nephilim were well known by name, even though no one had ever seen them since they had been destroyed in the flood.

 

In Aramaic culture, the term niyphelah refers to the Constellation of Orion, and nephilim to the offspring of Orion in mythology.

 

The tale of the Nephilim, alluded to in Genesis 6 is based on some of the negative aspects of the apkallu tradition".The apkallu in Sumerian mythology were seven legendary culture heroes from before the Flood, of human descent, but possessing extraordinary wisdom from the gods, and one of the seven apkallu, Adapa, was therefore called "son of Ea", despite his human origin.

 

Ezekiel 32:27 speaks of "the fallen mighty (gibborim nophlim, גִּבֹּורִים נֹפְלִים) of the uncircumcised, which are gone down (yardu, יָרְדֽוּ) to the grave with their weapons of war"; a change to the vowels would produce the reading gibborim nephilim

[Luke_Wilbur]

Surat At-Tawbah (The Repentance)

 

9:30

 

ويقول اليهود، "عزرا هو ابن الله"، وقالت النصارى: "إن المسيح هو ابن الله." وهذا هو بيانهم من أفواههم، بل يقلد قول الذين كفروا [معروض]. جزاكم الله تدميرها؛ كيف يتم مخدوع؟

 

The Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah "; and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah ." That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?

 

From what I am reading Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd ibn Ḥazm considered that the Surat At-Tawbah (The Repentance) 9:30 to not be referencing all Jews, but rather a Saduqiyya (Sadducees) Jews which are found in the Yemen, Syria, and Byzantine territory during the time of peace be upon him Muhammad.

 

Kitāb al-Fiṣal I. 99

 

You may want to research this to confirm what I am stating. If true, then that would explain alot.

During the time of peace be upon him Jesus, the three major Jewish sects were the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes.

 

Jesus revealed God's judgment on Israel, and predicted the destruction of the Temple, the of the age of the Old Covenant, and the birth of a New Age of Jesus Christ.

 

Matthew 23

 

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!

 

23:38 Look, your house is left to you desolate!

 

23:39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

 

24:1 Now as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings.

 

24:2 And he said to them, “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!”

 

24:3 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

 

24:4 Jesus answered them, “Watch out that no one misleads you.

 

24:5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many.

 

24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come.

 

24:7 For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

 

24:8 All these things are the beginning of birth pains.

 

 

Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Jewish theocracy. But, the Pharisees were not respected by Sadducee priests who considered themselves to be divinely guided and maintained and performed sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem.. The religious beliefs and social status of both Pharisees and Sadducees were mutually reinforcing, as the Priesthood often represented the highest class in Judean society.

 

The conflicted and cooperative relationship of the Shia and Sunni in Islam would be similar to the Pharisee and Sadducee teachings of Yahweh.

 

If one takes away the aspect of divinity, the Sadducees and Pharisees would be similar to the Democrat (Liberal) and Republican (Conservative) parties of today in the United States.

 

The Pharisees, meaning "set apart", were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty (140–37 BCE) in the wake of the Maccabean Revolt.

 

Conflicts between the Pharisees and the Sadducees took place in the context of much broader and longstanding social and religious conflicts among Jews dating back to the Babylonian captivity and exacerbated by the Roman conquest.

 

One conflict was class, between the wealthy and the poor, as the Sadducees included mainly the priestly and aristocratic families.

 

Another conflict was cultural, between those who favored Hellenization and those who resisted it.

 

A third was juridico-religious, between those who emphasized the importance of the Second Temple, and those who emphasized the importance of other Mosaic laws and prophetic values.

 

A fourth, specifically religious, involved different interpretations of the Torah and how to apply it to current Jewish life, with the Sadducees recognizing only the Written Torah and rejecting doctrines such as the Oral Torah and the Resurrection of the Dead.

 

Josephus (37 – c. A.D. 100), himself a Pharisee, claimed that the Pharisees received the backing and goodwill of the common people, apparently in contrast to the more elite Sadducees.

 

Pharisees claimed prophetic or Mosaic authority for their interpretation of Jewish laws, while the Sadducees represented the authority of the priestly privileges and prerogatives established since the days of Solomon, when Zadok, their ancestor, officiated as High Priest.

 

After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE Pharisaic beliefs became the basis for Rabbinic Judaism, which ultimately produced the normative traditional Judaism which is the basis for all contemporary forms of Judaism except for Karaism.

 

After the destruction of the Temple, only two "Judaisms" survived: the Pharisees and the Nazarenes. In Yahweh, the followers of the Pharisaic halacha (Jewish Law, literally "The Way To Walk") gathered under the leadership of Yokhahan Ben-Zakkai and reorganized the Sanhedrin. In Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), the followers of the Nazarene halacha gathered under the leadership of Simeon, who replaced Ya’acov HaTzaddik ("James the Just"), brother of Yahshua, in 63 CE.

 

Pharisaic beliefs became the liturgical and ritualistic basis for Rabbinic Judaism, which ultimately produced the normative traditional Judaism which is the basis for all contemporary forms of Judaism except for Karaite Judaism. The Rabbis avoided the term "Pharisee," perhaps because it was a term more often used by non-Pharisees, but also because the term was explicitly sectarian. The Rabbis claimed leadership over all Jews, and added to the Amidah the birkat haMinim, a prayer which in part exclaims, "Praised are You O Lord, who breaks enemies and defeats the arrogant," and which is understood as a rejection of sectarians and sectarianism. This shift by no means resolved conflicts over the interpretation of the Torah; rather, it relocated debates between sects to debates within Rabbinic Judaism. The Pharisaic commitment to scholarly debate as a value in and of itself, rather than merely a byproduct of sectarianism, emerged as a defining feature of Rabbinic Judaism. Thus, as the Pharisees argued that all Israel should act as priests, the Rabbis argued that all Israel should act as rabbis: "The rabbis furthermore want to transform the entire Jewish community into an academy where the whole Torah is studied and kept .... redemption depends on the "rabbinization" of all Israel, that is, upon the attainment of all Jewry of a full and complete embodiment of revelation or Torah, thus achieving a perfect replica of heaven.

 

The word in modern Hebrew for 'Christians' remains "Notzrim". he name non-believing Jews gave to Jewish believers (In Jesus the Messiah) was "Notzrim" (singular Notzri) or "Natzratim" ("Nazarenes"), that is, followers of the man from Natzeret ("Nazareth"), the town where Jesus lived most of his life.

[Luke_Wilbur]

Ezra rewrote the Torah.

 

If Ezra is accepted as a prophet, would then the Torah be considered a work of God? If he is just a scribe, then the Torah would be considered a work of man?

 

Shaykh ‘Abd al-Kareem al-Khudayr wrote:

 

Al-Haafiz ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah: “The well known view is that ‘Uzayr was one of the Prophets of the Children of Israel.” On this basis there is nothing wrong with calling him ‘Uzayr, so long as there is no inclination of the heart towards the Jews, and so long as one is not influenced by them because of being their neighbor. The scholarly differences as to whether ‘Uzayr was actually a Prophet or not are well known.

 

Ezra was a prophet.

 

Was He a Prophet?

 

It is well known that 'Uzair was one of the Prophets sent to the Children of Israel; he came during the interval between Dawud and Sulaiman, and Zakariya and Yahya. At his time, none from among the Children of Israel happened to memorize the Torah, Allah the Almighty inspired him to commit it to his heart and then he recited it to the Children of Israel. Wahb Ibn Munabih said: Allah the Almighty ordered an Angel to descend with light to throw on 'Uzair .In doing this, he copied the Torah letter by letter till he was finished.

 

Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sanhedrin

 

Sanhedrin 21b

 

Mar Zutra or, as some say, Mar 'Ukba said: Originally the Torah was given to Israel in Hebrew characters and in the sacred [Hebrew] language; later, in the times of Ezra, the Torah was given in Ashshurith script and Aramaic language. [Finally], they selected for Israel the Ashshurith script and Hebrew language, leaving the Hebrew characters and Aramaic language for the hedyototh. Who are meant by the 'hedyototh'?

 

R. Hisda answers: The Cutheans.

 

And what is meant by Hebrew characters?

 

R. Hisda said:

 

The libuna'ah script.

 

It has been taught: R. Jose said: Had Moses not preceded him, Ezra would have been worthy of receiving the Torah for Israel. Of Moses it is written, And Moses went up unto God, and of Ezra it is written, He, Ezra, went up from Babylon. As the going up of the former refers to the [receiving of the] Law, so does the going up of the latter. Concerning Moses, it is stated:

 

And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments; and concerning Ezra, it is stated: For Ezra had prepared his heart to expound the law of the Lord [his God] to do it and to teach Israel statutes and judgments. And even though the Torah was not given through him, its writing was changed through him, as it is written:

 

Muhammad Asad wrote a commentary explaining the problem that Muslims have with the Jewish regard of Ezra

 

... Ezra occupies a unique position in the esteem of all Jews, and has always been praised by them in the most extravagant terms. It was he who restored and codified the Torah after it had been lost during the Babylonian Exile, and ‘edited’ it in more or less the form which it has today; and thus ‘he promoted the establishment of an exclusive, legalistic type of religion that became dominant in the later Judaism’ (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1963, vol. IX, p. 15). Ever since then he has been venerated to such a degree that his verdicts on the Law of Moses have come to be regarded by the Talmudists as being practically equivalent to the Law itself: which, in Qur'anic ideology, amounts to a quasi-divine law giver and the blasphemous attribution to him - albeit metaphorically - of the quality of ‘sonship’ in relation to God.

 

On a deeper level does Islam recognize Cyrus as a prophet? In this passage God refers Cyrus as His anointed (Heb. mashiah), a title normally reserved for Israel’s prophets, priests, and kings.

 

 

Isaiah 44

 

44:24 This is what the Lord, your protector, says,

the one who formed you in the womb:

“I am the Lord, who made everything,

who alone stretched out the sky,

who fashioned the earth all by myself,

 

44:25 who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers

and humiliates the omen readers,

who overturns the counsel of the wise men

and makes their advice seem foolish,

 

44:26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants

and brings to pass the announcements of his messengers,

who says about Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’

and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,

her ruins I will raise up,’

 

44:27 who says to the deep sea, ‘Be dry!

I will dry up your sea currents,’

 

44:28 who commissions Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd

to carry out all my wishes

and to decree concerning Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’

and concerning the temple, ‘It will be reconstructed.’”

 

45:1 This is what the Lord says to his chosen one,

to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold

in order to subdue nations before him,

and disarm kings,

to open doors before him,

so gates remain unclosed:

 

45:2 “I will go before you

and level mountains.

Bronze doors I will shatter

and iron bars I will hack through.

 

45:3 I will give you hidden treasures,

riches stashed away in secret places,

so you may recognize that I am the Lord,

the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.

 

The Decree of Cyrus

 

http://youtu.be/rS1wa226Qec

 

36:22 In the first year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the promise he delivered through Jeremiah, the Lord moved King Cyrus of Persia to issue a written decree throughout his kingdom.

 

36:23 It read: “This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: ‘The Lord God of the heavens has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build for him a temple in Jerusalem in Judah. May the Lord your God energize you who belong to his people, so you may be able to go back there!”

 

1:1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the Lord’s message spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord stirred the mind of King Cyrus of Persia. He disseminated a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict the following:

 

1:2 “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia:

 

“‘The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

 

1:3 Anyone from his people among you (may his God be with him!) may go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may build the temple of the Lord God of Israel – he is the God who is in Jerusalem.

 

1:4 Anyone who survives in any of those places where he is a resident foreigner must be helped by his neighbors with silver, gold, equipment, and animals, along with voluntary offerings for the temple of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

 

Like Solomon Cyrus was told by God to rebuild the temple.

 

Ezra 1

 

1:1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the Lord’s message spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord stirred the mind of King Cyrus of Persia. He disseminated a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict the following:

 

1:2 “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia:

 

“‘The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

 

1:3 Anyone from his people among you (may his God be with him!) may go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may build the temple of the Lord God of Israel – he is the God who is in Jerusalem.

 

1:4 Anyone who survives in any of those places where he is a resident foreigner must be helped by his neighbors with silver, gold, equipment, and animals, along with voluntary offerings for the temple of God which is in Jerusalem.’”