Al-Aqsa TV, the Hamas TV channel, aired on Friday, July 25, 2014 a sermon from a Deir Al-Balah Mosque, in which an unnamed imam called for the extermination of the Jews. “We will not leave a single one of you alive,” declared the imam.
“Our doctrine in fighting you (the Jews) is that we will totally exterminate you. We will not leave a single one of you alive, because you are alien usurpers of the land and eternal mercenaries. You are the mercenaries of all times. Research the history, my brothers. Wherever the Jews lived, they spread corruption. Oh Muslims, didn’t you notice that Allah said: ‘They spread in THE land…’ The definite article in ‘THE land’ means the entire land. ‘They spread in the land corruption, and Allah loves not the corrupters.’”
And the penalty is clear: “Those who wage war against Allah and his messenger and strive to spread corruption in the land should be punished by death, crucifixion, the amputation of an alternate hand and foot or banishment from the land: a disgrace for them in this world, and then a terrible punishment in the Hereafter” (Qur’an 5:33).
(“Hamas Sermon from the Gaza Strip: Our Doctrine Entails Exterminating the Jews,” MEMRI, July 25, 2014:)
This is a very threatening sermon by an unnamed imam. One of the problems with many Muslim spokespersons is that they are very creative in making great claims but not have the ability to carry thru. This claim is a military claim by a person who hates Jews and he may not know any personally.
There is a great theological issue that he has raised. The issue relates to who is God: Yahweh or Allah. Allah is the Arabic word for a being whose name has not be revealed. There were 360 gods in Mecca when Mohammed declared that only one would be worshiped. All the gods had names but the people were never told which one is was.
Muslim try to deceive people by saying there is only one god, monotheism, and this being was the one who appeared to Abraham in the Genesis story. There is a gross contradiction in the claims of Muslims.
Why would the being who appeared to Abraham(Yahweh) declare that the Jews will be a blessing to all mankind, and then in the time of Mohammed declare that all Jews should be killed. Does this mean that Yahweh does not know the difference between blessing the Jews and killing the Jews? Or, could it mean that Allah is not really the God of the Bible and is not a god at all? Could it be that Allah is the great deceiver of mankind, like the one in the Garden of Eden?
The prophet Malachi wrote about Yahweh, “Descendants of Jacob, I am the LORD All-Powerful, and I never change. That's why you haven't been wiped out...(Malachi 3:6)
“God is no mere human! He doesn't tell lies or change his mind. God always keeps his promises.” (Numbers 23:19)
So now we can look at the promises of God to Abraham.
Gen 15:1 Later the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision, "Abram, don't be afraid! I will protect you and reward you greatly." But Abram answered, "LORD All-Powerful, you have given me everything I could ask for, except children. And when I die, Eliezer of Damascus will get all I own. You have not given me any children, and this servant of mine will inherit everything."
“The LORD replied, "No, he won't! You will have a son of your own, and everything you have will be his. Then the LORD took Abram outside and said, "Look at the sky and see if you can count the stars. That's how many descendants you will have." Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD was pleased with him. The LORD said to Abram, "I brought you here from Ur in Chaldea, and I gave you this land." Abram asked, "LORD God, how can I know the land will be mine?" Then the LORD told him, "Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a dove, and a young pigeon." Abram obeyed the LORD. Then he cut the animals in half and laid the two halves of each animal opposite each other on the ground. But he did not cut the doves and pigeons in half. And when birds came down to eat the animals, Abram chased them away. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and everything became dark and frightening. Then the LORD said: Abram, you will live to an old age and die in peace. But I solemnly promise that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that doesn't belong to them. They will be forced into slavery and abused for four hundred years. But I will terribly punish the nation that enslaves them, and they will leave with many possessions.
Four generations later, your descendants will return here and take this land, because only then will the people who live here be so sinful that they deserve to be punished. Sometime after sunset, when it was very dark, a smoking cooking pot and a flaming fire went between the two halves of each animal. At that time the LORD made an agreement with Abram and told him: I will give your descendants the land east of the Shihor River on the border of Egypt as far as the Euphrates River. They will possess the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. (Genesis 15:1-21)
Later, Yahweh appears again to Abraham who is now 99 years old. “Abraham bowed with his face to the ground and thought, "I am almost a hundred years old. How can I become a father? And Sarah is ninety. How can she have a child?" So he started laughing. Then he asked God, "Why not let Ishmael inherit what you have promised me?" But God answered: No! You and Sarah will have a son. His name will be Isaac, and I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants. I have heard what you asked me to do for Ishmael, and so I will also bless him with many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make his family a great nation. But your son Isaac will be born about this time next year, and the promise I am making to you and your family will be for him and his descendants forever. God finished speaking to Abraham and then left. On that same day Abraham obeyed God by circumcising Ishmael. Abraham was also circumcised, and so were all other men and boys in his household, including his servants and slaves. He was ninety-nine years old at the time, and his son Ishmael was thirteen.” (Genesis 17:17-23)
Will the imam’s words come true? Not if Yahweh is still Lord.
We need to note that the land of Israel was given by Yahweh to Abraham and his descendants. This has never been rejected by Yahweh. Even when the Jews were disobedient and worshiped idols and Yahweh punished them by ejecting them from the land into captivity in other countries, there was always the promise that many of them would return to the land and be faithful. The promise of the land to the Jews has never been abrogated. Yahweh does not lie, nor change in his promises. The Muslim deity does change, lies, and deceives the people of Islam.
While Jerusalem was the capital of Israel in ancient and modern times, it has a great importance for Christians. The last book of the Bible, Revelation, states,
“ I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and so had the sea. Then I saw New Jerusalem, that holy city, coming down from God in heaven. It was like a bride dressed in her wedding gown and ready to meet her husband. I heard a loud voice shout from the throne: God's home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people. He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever. Then the one sitting on the throne said: I am making everything new. Write down what I have said. My words are true and can be trusted.” (Revelation, 21:1-5)
So the importance of Jerusalem reaches a climax in the end of the world events and it still belongs to the followers of Yahweh and His Son, Jesus, the Christ.
August 7, 2014