Expert: Messianic Rabbi Yochanan Levine - 4/2/2011

Question
Hi!
I was speaking with a Muslim man a few days ago,and he was telling me that Jesus was not crucified. He said it says in the Bible that he wasn't crucified. Is it true? He also mentioned that Isaac and Ishmael were blessed.He showed me these verses.But I couldn't understand what these meant-
He emailed me this_

Both Ishmael and Isaac Were Blessed
Why did Ishmael and his mother Hagar leave Sarah?
Because after Isaac was weaned, his mother Sarah saw Ishmael mocking him. After that, she
didn't want Ishmael to be heir with her son Isaac: Genesis 21:8-10: "And the child grew,
and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham
mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham: 'Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for
the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac."'

Isaac was about two years old when he was weaned. Ishmael was then sixteen years because Abraham was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael and was a hundred years old when Isaac was born, according to Genesis 16:16: “And Abram was four score and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram,” and Genesis 21:5: “And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.”  Genesis 21:8-10 is then in contradiction with Genesis 21:14-21 where Ishmael was portrayed as a baby put on the shoulder of his mother, called lad and child, when both left Sarah. “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child…Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hands..” This was the profile of a baby and not a teenager. So Ishmael and his mother Hagar left Sarah long before Isaac was born. According to the Islamic version, Abraham took Ishmael and Hagar and made a new settlement in Makkah, called Paran in the Bible (Genesis 21:21), because of a divine instruction given to Abraham as a part of God's plan. Hagar ran seven times between two hills, Safa and Marwa, looking for water. This is the origin of one of the rituals that is performed during the pilgrimage to Makkah. The well of water mentioned in Genesis 21:19 is still present and is known as called Zamzam. Both Abraham and Ishmael later built the Ka'bah in Makkah. The spot where Abraham used to perform prayers near
the Ka'bah is still present and is known as the Maqam Ibrahim, i.e., the Station of
Abraham. During the pilgrimage, pilgrims in Makkah and Muslims all over the world
commemorate the offering of Abraham and Ishmael by slaughtering cattle.

But Christians say the Bible mentions that Isaac was to be sacrificed.
The Islamic version states that the covenant between God, Abraham, and his only son
Ishmael was made and sealed when Ishmael was supposed to be sacrificed. On the very
same day, Abraham, Ishmael, and all the men of Abraham's household were circumcised.
At that time, Isaac had not even born: Genesis 17:24-27: "And Abraham was ninety years
old and nine when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son
was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. In the
selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. And all the men of his
house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with
him."
A year later, Isaac was born and circumcised when he was eight days old: Genesis 21:4-5:
"And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded
him. And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him." So
when the covenant was made and sealed (circumcision and sacrifice) Abraham was
ninety-nine and Ishmael was thirteen. Isaac was born a year later, when Abraham was one
hundred years old.
The descendants of Ishmael, Prophet Muhammad including all Muslims, remain faithful
until today to this covenant of circumcision. In their five daily prayers, Muslims include the
praise of Abraham and his descendants with the praise of Muhammad and his descendants.

Christians say that in Genesis 22 it is mentioned that Isaac was to be sacrificed.
I know, but you will see the contradiction there. It is mentioned "shine only son Isaac."
Shouldn't it be "shine only son Ishmael," when Ishmael was thirteen years old and Isaac
had not even been born? When Isaac was born, Abraham had two sons. Because of
chauvinism, the name of Ishmael was changed to Isaac in all of Genesis 22. But God has
preserved the word "only" to show us what it should have been.
The words "I will multiply thy seed" in Genesis 22:17 was applied earlier to Ishmael in
Genesis 16:10. Was not the whole of Genesis 22 applicable to Ishmael then? "I will make
him a great nation" has been repeated twice for Ishmael in Genesis 17:20 and Genesis 21:18 and never applied to Isaac at all.

But Jews and Christians maintain that Isaac was superior to Ishmael.
They say this because they do not know the Bible. The Bible states (Genesis 15”4): “And behold, the word of the the Lord came unto him (Abraham), saying, This (Eliezer of Damascus) shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.” So, Ishmael was also heir.
Genesis 16:10: "And the angel of the Lord said unto her [Hager]: 'I will multiply thy seed
exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. "'
Genesis 17:20: "And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee. Behold, I have blessed him, and
will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget,
and I will make him a great nation."
Genesis 21:13: "And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is
thy seed."
Genesis 21:18: "Arise, lift up the lad [Ishmael], and hold him in shine hand, for I will
make him a great nation."
Deuteronomy 21:15-17: "If a man have two wives, one beloved and another hated, and
they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be
hers that was hated: Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he
hash, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated,
which is indeed the firstborn: But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the
firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hash: for he is the beginning of the
strength; the right of the firstborn is his." Islam does not deny God's blessings on Isaac
and his descendants, but the son of promise is Ishmael, from whom arose Muhammad as
the seal of the prophets.

But Christians and Jews claim that Ishmael was an illegitimate son.
That is what they say, but not what the Bible states. How could such a great prophet as
Abraham have an illegal wife and a son out of wedlock!
Genesis 16:3: "... and [Sarah] gave her [Hager] to her husband Abram to be his wife." If
the marriage was legal, how could their offspring be illegal? Is a marriage between two
foreigners, a Chaldean and an Egyptian, not more legal than a marriage between a man with
a daughter of his father? Whether it was a lie of Abraham or not, it is stated in Genesis
20:12: "And yet indeed she [Sarah] is my sister, she is the daughter of my father, but not
the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife."
The name Ishmael was also chosen by Allah Himself: Genesis 16:11: "And the Angel of
the Lord said unto her [Hager]: 'Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt
call his name Ishmael, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction."' Ishmael means "God
hears." Where in the Bible is it written that Ishmael was an illegitimate son? Nowhere!

Long before both Ishmael and Isaac were born, Allah made a covenant with Abraham:
Genesis 15:18: "... saying Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt
unto the great river, the Euphrates." Doesn't the greater part of Arabia lie between the Nile
and the Euphrates, where all the descendants of Ishmael settled at a later date?

However, we Muslims do not deny that Isaac was also blessed. See Genesis 17:8: “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed (Isaac) after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Do you see also the difference that Abraham was called "a stranger" in Canaan but not in
the land between the Nile and the Euphrates? As a Chaldean, he was more Arab than Jew.

You may say that the covenant was made with Isaac, according to Genesis 17:21: "But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this time in the next year."
Does this exclude Ishmael? Where in the Bible does it say that Allah would not make
any covenant with Ishmael? Nowhere!




Is Muhammad a descendant of Abraham?
Some Christian denominations are making tremendous progress now by acknowledging for the first time in history that Muhammad descended from Ishmael through his second son Kedar. The Davis Dictionary of the Bible (1980), sponsored by the Board of Christian Education of the
Presbyterian Church in the USA, writes under the word "Kedar": "... A tribe descended
from Ishmael (Gen. 25:13) ... The people of Kedar were Pliny's Cedrai, and from their
tribe Mohammed ultimately arose." The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia quotes
the following from A. S. Fulton: "... Of the Ishmaelite tribes, Kedar must have been one of
the most important and thus in later times the name came to be applied to all the wild tribes
of the desert. It is through Kedar ("Keidar" in Arabic) that Muslim genealogists trace the
descent of Mohammed from Ishmael."
Also Smith's Bible Dictionary prints the following: "Kedar (black). Second son of Ishmael
(Gen. 25:13) ... Mohammed traces his lineage to Abraham through the celebrated Koreish
tribe, which sprang from Kedar. The Arabs in the Hejaz are called Beni Harb (men of
war), and are Ishmaelites as of old, from their beginning. Palgrave says their language is as
pure now as when the Koran was written (A.D. 610), having remained unchanged more
than 1200 years; a fine proof of the permanency of Eastern Institutions."
The biggest asset brought by Muslim immigrants to the West is not their manpower but
Islam, which is now taking root here. Many mosques and Islamic centers have been
established and many people have reverted to Islam. I prefer the word "reverted" and not
"converted," as everybody is born in submission to Allah—Islam—and so being a Muslim
is the nature of every single individual. The parents or the community convert him to
Judaism, Christianity, other faiths, or atheism.
This is also a proof that Islam is not spreading by the sword but simply by propagation on
the part of Muslim individuals or groups. We don't have special missions organized as in
Christian missions.
The world population has increased 136 percent from 1934 through 1984, Christianity with
47 percent and Islam with 235 percent. These figures can be checked in The Plain Truth,
February 1984, in its fiftieth anniversary issue, quoting from The World Almanac and
Book of Facts 1935, and The Reader's Digest Almanac and Yearbook 1983.

So, if all three religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, claim to emanate from the One
and same Creator, why do they differ?
All prophets from Adam to Muhammad were sent with the same message: man's total
submission to Allah. In Arabic, this submission is called "Islam," which also means peace,
peace between the Creator and His creatures. Unlike the names Judaism and Christianity,
the name Islam was given by Allah Himself, as mentioned in Surah 5:3: This day I have
perfected your religion for you and completed My favor on you, and have chosen for you
Islam as your way of life. Neither "Judaism" nor "Christianity" is found in the Bible or in a
Bible dictionary. No Israelite prophet said the word "Judaism." Jesus never claimed to
establish Christianity and never called himself a Christian. The word "Christian" is
mentioned only three times in the New Testament and first by pagans and Jews in Antioch
about 43 A.D., long after Jesus had left this earth. Read in Acts 11:26

Abraham was a Muslim, who submitted totally to Allah. But Islam as a way of life had been revealed to other prophets prior to Abraham,
such as Adam and Noah. Then Islam follows as the way of life for all humanity.
If someone asks how could Abraham be a Muslim? It is known that he was a Jew.
They are taught that, so it must be confirmed by the Bible.
But can you show me where in the Bible it says that he was a Jew? If you can't find it
quickly, let me help you. Read Genesis 11:31.
"And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his
daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth with them from Ur of the
Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran and dwelt there."
So Abraham who was born in Ur of Chaldees could not have been a Jew. First because
Ur of Chaldees was in Mesopotamia, which is now a part of Iraq. He was then more an
Arab than a Jew. Secondly the name "Jew" came after the existence of Judah, the
great-grandson of Abraham (see chart on page 4). Read further, Genesis 12:4 and 5.
" ... and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.... and
into the land of Canaan they came.
So Abraham emigrated to Canaan at the age of seventy-five and the Bible clearly
mentioned that he was there a stranger m Genesis 17:8: "And I will give unto thee, and to
thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an
everlasting possession; and I will be their God." Read now Genesis 14:13.
"And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew.... "
How can you call Abraham a Jew if the Bible itself calls him a Hebrew which means a
man from the other side of the Euphrates. It also means pertaining to Eber, a descendant of
Shem. Read now in Genesis 32:28 what happened to the name of Jacob after wrestling
with an angel.
"And he said: 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast
thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.'"
So Abraham was a Hebrew. The descendants of Jacob were Israelites consisting of the
twelve tribes. Judah was nicknamed "Jew" so that only Judah's descendants were called
Jews originally. To know who Moses really was, read Exodus 6:16-20.

Thank you!
Sarah

Answer
Hi Sarah,

Muslims lie.
Its called taquiyya. Their religion blesses them for deceiving others.

Muslims do NOT worship the God of the Bible.
They plagiarized it. They worship the Baal (demigod) known as Hubal-Sin

Genesis 21 explains that the promise of God would pass through Isaac.

Genesis 21:12  And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad (Ishmael), and because of thy bondwoman (Hagar); in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

Isaac is the child of promise.

As for Ismael:

Genesis 16:12  And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren

And this is still the case to this day. They are intent on enslaving the world and destroying biblical religion.

God did say that Ishmael would father many nations, however the promise passed through Isaac.

Likewise, the religion of Islam has NO biblical authority and is not the religion practiced by Abraham and Ishmael.

Islam is the resurrection of Baal worship. They worship the moon god Hubal-Sin, not the God of Israel. You might this page of interest: http://jewtoo.org/islam.html I wrote it today in answer to a similar question.

--- Why did Ishmael and his mother Hagar leave Sarah?

Because they were cast out. Hagar was jealous of the promised child (Isaac).

Frankly, I have interest in responding to all the incorrect information he sent you. if you would like to ask specific questions I'll be happy to address them.

Abraham had NOTHING to do with the building of the Pagan shrine known as the Cube (Ka'aba). It was the ancient worship site of the 360 Pagan Baal (demigods) worshiped by the Northern Arabs.

The Torah (5 books of Moses) were written thousands of years before the Muslims plagiarized them. The Torah is clear that Abraham offered Isaac not Ishmael (Genesis 22).

EVERYTHING about Islam is a lie. the Qu'ran plagiarizes the Bible, the Indian Vedas and the Persian (Zoroastrian) Avesta.

If you have specific questions feel free to write back but this is too long and skimming over it is a tissue of lies.

~ Messianic Rabbi Yochanan Levine