CHRISTMAS INTERLUDE

The Messages Of The Biblical Gabriel Versus Islam's "Gabriel"

Part II: The Biblical Gabriel's Revelation Of Jesus As God's ULTIMATE Messenger Versus Islam's "Gabriel"

(Daniel 9:20-27 et al.)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

(1) Ever since the 9/11 attacks on America, the Islamic faith has been a key issue in world affairs: as a recent example, the front page story in the December 4, 2013 issue of The Wall Street Journal, "U. S., Allies Reach Out To Syria's Islamist Rebels," by Stacy Meichtry, Ellen Knickmeyer and Adam Entous told how "The U. S. and its allies have opened direct talks with key Islamist militias in Syria . . . aiming to undercut al Qaeda" that led the 911 attacks.

(2) Yet, Islam affects not only world affairs, but also society itself: the world Muslim population will increase by 35% over the next 20 years. (perforum.org, "The Future of the Global Muslim Population," January 27, 2011)

(3) Thus, we need to be able to answer Muslim questions about our faith (1 Peter 3:15), and a good place to start this Christmas is the contrast between the words of Islam's angel Gabriel and the words of the Bible's Gabriel:

(a) Islam's Qur'an that Muslims hold is divinely inspired allegedly "was delivered piecemeal through Gabriel to Muhammad during his twenty-three-year prophetic career." (Robert Spencer, The Truth About Muhammad, 2006, p. 20; brackets ours) (b) Then, "Islam teaches that the Torah [five books of Moses] was Allah's first revelation and the [New Testament] gospel was second. But both became corrupted, so Allah gave the Qur'an to Muhammad to put people back on the right path." (Richard Wendling and Daniel Shayesteh, "Reaching Muslims, Part 1," Answers, July-Sept. 2011, p. 38; brackets ours) (c) However, ((1)) regarding Jews who refused to view Muhammad as a prophet or Messiah predicted in their Scriptures, the Qur'an (2:89) claims: "And when there cometh unto them a scripture from Allah, confirming that in their possession . . . which they know (to be the truth) they disbelieve therein. The curse of Allah is on [such] disbelievers," Ibid., Spencer, p. 100-101; brackets ours. In addition, ((2)) the Qur'an (61:6) asserts that Jesus Christ Himself foretold Muhammad's coming as a prophet who was superior to Himself, and we cite the Qur'an on this assertion as follows: "'And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: 'O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving Glad Tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad''" where "'Ahmad' is a variant of Muhammad," Ibid., p. 36.

Need: So, we ask, "If Islam holds the Bible is corrupted and the Qur'an divinely inspired, and if the Qur'an claims the Bible and Jesus predicted Muhammad would come as God's Ultimate Prophet or Messiah, how do we reply?!"

I. First, we note that Islam's claim that the Christian Bible is corrupt is incorrect via empirical evidence:

A. The Third Council of Carthage in A. D. 397 forbade the reading of any uninspired books of the Bible, so by then, the 66-book Bible canon was already set. (Rene Pache, The Insp. And Auth. Of Scrip., 1971, p. 178-179)

B. On Islam's charge that the Bible was corrupted so that the Qur'an was later needed to restore the true divine revelation, (1) Gleason L. Archer wrote: "'A careful study of the variants [different readings] of the various earliest manuscripts [of the Bible] reveals that none of them affects a single doctrine of Scripture.'" (Gleason L. Archer, A Survey of the O. T., 1964, p. 25, cited in J. McDowell, A Ready Defense, 1991, p. 46; brackets ours) and (2) Sir Frederick G. Kenyon wrote: "(T)he general result of all these discoveries [Dead Sea Scrolls, etc.] . . . [is] our conviction that we have in our hands, in substantial integrity, the veritable Word of God." (Sir Frederic G. Kenyon, The Story of the Bible, 1967, p. 113, cited in McDowell, op. cit., p. 47; brackets ours)

C. The alleged angel Gabriel of Islam began to give his messages to Muhammad in A. D. 611 ("The Man From Mecca, SIM NOW, July-Aug. 1989, p. 2) 214 years after the Bible's canon has been shown not only to have been universally set, but from the finding of ancient manuscripts, not to have been doctrinally corrupted.

D. Thus, it is Qur'an's teachings that differ with the Bible's teachings that are the real corruption of the truth!

II. Second, the Bible's Gabriel in Daniel 9:20-27 foretold ONLY JESUS as God's ULTIMATE MESSENER:

A. Gabriel in Daniel 9:24 said "70 sevens" were set for Israel that would end with "everlasting righteousness," Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, 1978, ftn. to Dan. 9:25. As the term, "everlasting" is plural in Hebrew, it means "ages," so the whole expression means "righteousness of ages," or the "millennial kingdom," B. K. C., O. T., p. 1362.

B. The expression "70 sevens" refers to 70 sets of "sevens" of years, for Daniel 9:2 reports Daniel had just read in Jeremiah [25:9-11] that Israel would be in captivity for 70 years [to fulfill Leviticus 26:33-35 for not having kept 70 sets of Sabbatical year land rests in her past 490 years of inhabiting the Promised Land].

C. Thus, Gabriel taught that God would work with the nation Israel for another 490 years like He had worked with her in the previous 490 years in Canaan, and THEN He would establish the Millennial Kingdom!

D. In filling in this future 490-year timeline, Gabriel said that from Artaxerxes Longimanus' decree on March 5, 445 B. C. to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah came to Jerusalem would be 7 + 62 sets of "sevens" of years, or 49 + 434 or 483 years, Dan. 9:25a; Ibid., Ryrie, ftn.; H. Hoehner, Chr. Asps. of the Life of Christ, 1979, p. 139. In the first set of sevens [49 yrs.], Jerusalem's "public square and moat" was rebuilt, Ibid., Ryrie.

E. At the end of the 62 set of "sevens," the 434-year part, Messiah would arrive at Jerusalem, and via the Jewish calendar, that arrival date is March 30, A. D. 33, Jesus' triumphal entry, Dan. 9:25b; Luke 19; Ibid., Hoehner.

F. The angel Gabriel told Daniel that "after" that arrival of the Messiah, He would be "cut off" (Dan. 9:26a), a term used "of executing the death penalty on a criminal," Ibid., Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1364, and that the Messiah would "have nothing," that He would not then provide Israel His Messianic Kingdom, Ibid.

G. History shows that this "Messiah" can only be Jesus of Nazareth: He alone entered Jerusalem as Messiah in His triumphal entry on March 30, A. D. 33, and just days later was executed to die as a criminal, having withdrawn His offer of the Messianic Kingdom as verified in the New Testament (cf. Luke 19:42-44)!

H. Also, calculating the moon's movements shows a full moon occurred April 3, A. D. 33 when Jesus died at the full moon Passover, Nisan 15, a few days after His triumphal entry, supporting Jesus as the Daniel 9 Messiah, Ibid., Hoehner, p. 89, 143; H. H. Goldstine, New And Full Moons: 1001 B. C. to A. D. 1651, 1973, p. 87.

I. Gabriel then said Jerusalem would be destroyed by the people of the [future] antichrist, i. e., the Romans, and this event occurred in Rome's destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, Dan. 9:26b; Ibid. Until the end of this era when the 70th "seven" of years is set to start, war and desolations are determined on Jerusalem, Daniel 9:26c.

J. The last set of "sevens" of years refer to the future 7-year Great Tribulation when God again works with Israel. The antichrist will then make a 7-year treaty with Israel and break it in 3 1/2 years, desecrating the temple and persecuting Israel, Dan. 9:27a. After this will come Christ's Messianic Kingdom, Dan. 9:27b with Dan. 9:24.

K. In summary, then, since the angel Gabriel's Daniel 9:20-27 timeline shows the rejection and execution of the Messiah who came to Israel on March 30, A. D. 33 leads only to war and desolations on Jerusalem for our era, and then to the antichrist's desecrations until the Messiah returns to set up His Kingdom, and that Messiah is only ONE Person, and that ONE can ONLY be JESUS of NAZARETH, Muhammad is NOT a Greater Prophet than Jesus NOR the Messiah opposite the Qur'an's claim!

III. Third, in Matthew 24:23-27, Jesus WARNED that FALSE MESSIAHS and PROPHETS would rise AFTER HIM to deceive, but that men should INSTEAD look for His return that would LIGHT UP the ENTIRE SKY with HIS GLORY to signal the arrival of God's TRUE ULTIMATE MESSENGER! Since MUHAMMAD does NOT fulfill this lighting-up-the-whole-sky prophecy, but is thus according to Jesus a FALSE prophet, MUHAMMAD is NOT God's ULTIMATE PROPHET opposite the Qur'an's claim!

Lesson: In answer to Islam's claim that the Bible was corrupted and needed to be corrected by Islam's Qur'an, which Qur'an is allegedly the words of Islam's "Gabriel", and that the Qur'an claims the Hebrew Scriptures and Jesus predicted the rise of Muhammad as God's Ultimate Prophet or Messiah, (1) manuscript evidence reveals the Bible is fully doctrinally credible, and (2) Daniel 9:20-27 with Matthew 24:23-27 in the Bible show the angel Gabriel and Jesus together testify that only Jesus could be God's Ultimate Messenger -- not Muhammad!

Application: May we (1) trust in Christ as Savior for eternal life, John 3:16. (2) May we then answer Muslims who ask us a reason for our hope in the issues mentioned in this sermon, then lead them to Christ, cf. 1 Peter 3:15.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . .)

In trying to witness to Muslims, a key area to address is the Qur'an's contradictions on divine revelations.

"Islam teaches that the Torah was Allah's first revelation and the gospel was second. But both became corrupted, so Allah gave the Qur'an to Muhammad to put people back on the right path. Muslims believe the Qur'an is Allah's third and final revelation, his perfect, unchanging words.

This brings up . . . [a] contradiction in the Qur'an. The Qur'an teaches that Allah's words cannot be changed (Surah 6:115; 18:27), yet it also teaches that the Torah and gospels were changed and became corrupted . . . the Surah itself teaches that Muhammad changed some of its verses and that his followers shredded the Qur'an (Surah 2:106; 16:101; 15:90-91)." (Ibid., Wendling and Shayesteh, p. 38; brackets ours)

Thus, the Qur'an, in being logically inconsistent in its own claims about divine inspiration, is not God's Word. We must rather heed the Bible as God's Word and so trust in Christ for salvation as John 3:16 teaches. Then, may we answer Muslims who ask us about our beliefs, giving them the reasons for our faith.