Expert: Messianic Rabbi Yochanan Levine - 4/1/2011

Question
QUESTION: Dear Rabbi:
I have several inter-related questions. If Allah was spelt in Hebrew, what letters would be used? (aleph, lamed, lamed, ayin?)
The reason I ask this is because of Hosea 7:16.

RSV "They turn to Baal."
NRSV "They turn to that which does not profit." (I think the translators here followed the Septuagint. A footnote indicates the Hebrew meaning is uncertain.)
Most English Bibles read something like, "They (re)turn not to the Most High."

It seems to turn on the second or third Hebrew words of Hosea 7:16.

If these two words were originally one, and the letters had been transposed by scribes who did not know Hosea had used the name of a god that did not yet exist, could they spell "Allah"?

I don't know Hebrew, so I need your expert help.
Many thanks.

ANSWER: Hi Jerry,

J: Is Allah's name in the Bible?

RY: The actual name of their god is in the Bible in place names such as Exodus 17:1 (Exo 17:1  And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin...).

Despite their claims (taqiyya: deceptions), Muslims do not worship the God of the Bible, the God of Avraham, Isaac and Jacob nor even Ishmael. They worship the moon god or "ba-al" ("master" or demigod") Hubal-Sin.

Understand that in ancient Mid-eastern cultures these were goddesses, some say demons, like the Assyrian Lilu, Lilit, and Ardat Lilit. Lilith is to said to have been a goddess of the night or perhaps a goddess of the storms. Her worship never died out and indeed she is once again becoming rather popular among neo-Pagans. Historically Lilith was WRONGLY worshiped and/or feared by certain Jews during their Babylonian captivity and by the pre-Muslim Arabs of Mecca and surrounding areas. Her cult was quite strong for many years. She is mentioned in the Tanakh as the screech owl:

Isaiah 34:14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr [a "hairy swine god"] shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl [Liyliyth] also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.

Lilith is the goddess of Islam. According to the Talmud Lilith is a seductress with long hair. She is the Queen of Zemargad and goes about at night, fastening herself upon any one sleeping alone in a room. Hence it is considered vital that one has a spouse according to many mid-eastern traditions. Some even equate Lilith with a vampire that can only be resisted and defeated by the power of a joined soul (i.e. a husband and wife) utterly devoted to HaShem (the One True God). We today will usually relegate such beliefs to mere superstition, however for those who hold such beliefs there is nothing "mere" about them! And as the Bard has noted: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." We often dismiss such things too lightly. Such beliefs hold great power and influence over those who live under their influences! Lilith was a powerful presence in the lives of many Mid-Easterners including the Arabs who were forced at pain of death to convert to the religion created by Muhammad and his jihad warriors!

For pre-Muslim Arabs Lilith was the fearsome 'holy dame' who healed the sick and brought various blessings to her faithful. Her amulets were worn by many Ishmaelites including the Northern Arabs Islam later developed from, her terra-cotta figurines were worshiped and decorated the Pagan shrine known as the Cube (Ka'aba) in Mecca.

Prior to the coming of the war lord Muhammad, the Ishmaelites of Arabia worshiped 360 different baals (gods), one for each day of the year. Among these was the moon god Allah (often referred to as Hubal-Sin prior to Muhammad). The Ishmaelites believed the idol ("al-ilah") was married to the al-Lat, the sun goddess. Together they produced three goddesses, known as "the daughters of Allah." This trinity of goddesses were: Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat. They were worshiped as divine priestesses who interceded between the people and the moon god Allah. This "Holy Family" -- Allah (the father), his wife al-Lat (the mother) and his sun goddess -- was a trinity (common among many Pagan traditions) were considered the "high" gods of Mecca.

In time Muhammad darkened the world stage and proclaimed that the moon god Hubal-Sin (his allah) was actually the same Being worshiped by his ancestors Ishmael and Avraham and that he had been appointed by Hubal-Sin (his allah) to be the Nabi or final prophet, sent to destroy the other gods (baals) of the Ka'aba (thereby defeating the authority of the other ruling Arab clans). For our purposes here, I want to point out that Allah's daughters also form a trinity of goddesses even as Allah, al-Lat and the Allah's daughters did. We find the presence of three-fold deities everywhere including in the Nicolaitan doctrines of most Christians! HaShem however is One. The Monotheistic spiritual descendents of Avraham Avinu rejected all trinities insisting that El is Echad (God is One).

Hosea 7:16 does not have the title "allah" in the Hebrew it has:
על
‛al

Without a final he.
The meaning is not uncertain at all, only the best way to translate it. It very clear in the Masoretic Text:

16 They return, but not upward [i.e. not to the "highest"]; they are like an unreliable bow. Their leaders will die by the sword because of their angry talk. They will become a laughingstock in the land of Egypt.

The KJV has it as: They return, but not to the most High:...
Both are correct. They do not return to where they should be: Biblically where they should be is with the Most High and the context bears this out, however the word used is not directly referencing God (only indirectly), hence the difference in translation. The Most High is the God of the Bible (which existed thousands of years before al Qu'ran and al Hadith plagiarized it).

Hopefully the Hebrew font come through on this post -- 'al is correctly translated as "the most High" in this context and refers to harmony with HaShem and/or His Will. The Most High of the Bible is Elohiym (HaShem) not Hubal-Sin.

This is same "el" as in El-ohiym, El- Gibbor and so on. The prefix al / el means "highest" and in this context -- as most Bibles translate it here in Hosea -- whether as "Most High" or "Upward" the meaning is clear.

HaShem, God of the Bible is the al or highest of all.
The Muslim moon god al-ilha is positionally the "highest" baal of the Ka'aba, however the Bible would never refer to a Pagan god like Allah as the Highest.

Like English words and letters, combinations mean different things depending on their usage. There are innumerable elohiym (gods) but the God of Avraham, Issac and Jacob is "Echad Elohiym" (the One true God). The Muslim al'ilah is a Pagan baal (demigod) condemned throughout the Torah.

Wishing to win political control of Mecca and the northern Arabs warlord Muhammad studied the religion of the Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus (or had some of their materials read to him as he was supposed to have been illiterate) and plagiarized them to create his own religion with Hubal-Sin as the al-ilaha or Allah) and him as the ultimate power. This is why, for instance, many of the Torah accounts between Avraham and Issac are plagiarized to Avraham and Ishmael (Avraham offers Ishmael in sacrifice according to Muslims instead of Issac as the Torah records and so on).

J: ...It seems to turn on the second or third Hebrew words of Hosea 7:16.
RY: No it doesn't. It turns on the consistent teachings of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation:

Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad
"Hear Israel, HaShem is our God, HaShem is One"

Our God is NOT Hubal-Sin.

Islam is deceiving the biblically illiterate world and seeking to (successfully is) spread the Ummah of Islam into the global caliphate (Sharia-based dictatorship). Islam has absolutely NO CLAIM to legitimacy biblically speaking. Christians have merely become lukewarm and biblically illiterate for the most part (Revelation 3:16,17). Not knowing the Bible they are falling for lies (taqiyya) such as this.

In conclusion: Islam is Baal worship:

Joshua  24:14 "Therefore fear ADONAI, and serve him truly and sincerely. Put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the [Euphrates]River and in Egypt, and serve ADONAI!
15 If it seems bad to you to serve ADONAI, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living? As for me and my household, we will serve ADONAI!"
16 The people answered, "Far be it from us that we would abandon ADONAI to serve other gods;
17 because it is ADONAI our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery, and did those great signs before our eyes, and preserved us all along the way we traveled and among all the peoples we passed through;
18 and it was ADONAI who drove out from ahead of us all the peoples, the Emori living in the land. Therefore we too will serve ADONAI, for he is our God.


~ Messianic Rabbi Yochanan Levine
Our free on-line school of Messianic Judaism
http://templebethhashem.org/yeshiva

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank-you for your prompt reply, and also for all the extra background information.

I too understand, and believe Allah is not the same as the God of the Bible.

Forgive me for being dense, but since Hosea 7:16 basically says ancient Israel did not turn back to the true God, could this verse actually have prophesied Israel turned to an unknown false deity?

Once again, many thanks.

Answer
Shalom again Jerry.

This is another example of what is so spiritually dangerous about "Proof texts." If this verse was all we had to go on one might make that argument, however consider the "whole counsel of God. For instance:

Zechariah 8:23  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

In the End of Days the Jews will still be the Elect of God. Gentiles will go to them for the Truth. Clearly they did not (will not) abandon the One True God.

Likewise, long after the days of Isaiah Y'shua said:

John 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

Salvation is of the Jews. Had the Jews abandoned the true God this would not be the case.

Consider that Islam accept Isa (Y'shua/Jesus) as a true prophet. Therefore since he said this Muslims have to accept it.

The truth is, for all eternity, the covenant of HaShem is with the Jews.

As Paul wrote:
Romans 11:1  I say then, Hath God cast away his people [i.e. the Jews]? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
11:2  God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew....

Don't be deceived. Islam is revived Baal worship.
The One True and Only God is the God of the Jews.

Shalom. May you have a restful Shabbat

~ Messianic Rabbi Yochanan Levine
http://templebethhashem.org/yeshiva