Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

IsResting being One of God’s Traits?

In the Old Testament, in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 2, Verse 2, the following is written:

"By the seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing so on the seventh day he rested from all his work."

All are in agreement; God, His Prophet and all of God's wise creatures know that the word "rest" implies getting tired. This trait is a characteristic of the mortal creatures, existing and depending on God. God is the Creator, existing by Himself. Nothing tires Him, whether large or small; and if God wanted to do anything, he would say, "Be", and it would be. So, it is not wise to give this characteristic to Almighty God, otherwise, He would be the same as His creatures - needful, and in order to carry out jobs, he would require tools and machinery and would have to work and use energy. Almighty God is the Creator. It is not smart to say that He rested on the seventh day, as in the Old Testament.

Another point that we should mention is that it is impossible for the Almighty Lord to tire, or for His state to change because if God were to change, it would suggest that in some way He is in fact incomplete, imperfect.

Therefore, if you believe in the Perfection of God, prove to yourself that the rest is wrong, that this section of the Old Testament contradicts God's Holiness. God the

Omnipotent, the Omniscient, has no need for rest. To rest is the trait of a creature that is weak and we must not doubt that a thing that contradicts God's Holiness cannot be a statement from God Himself. This, therefore, cannot be Inspiration.

The Old Testament is Ignorant about Geography

In Genesis 2:10-14, we have this account:

10. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden, and from there it divided; it had four headstreams.

11. The name of the first is thePishon ; it winds through the entire land ofHavilah , where there is gold.

12. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)

13. The name of the second river is theGihon ; it winds through the entire land of Cush.

14. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side ofAsshur . And the fourth river is the Euphrates."

It is obvious for anyone who knows some geography that there is no city of Eden except in Yemen onBoghas Bab Al Mandeb. Yemen is south of Saudi Arabia; the Euphrates and theHiddekel Rivers are in Iraq, and from their Delta they pour into the Persian Gulf. The Tigris rises in the Armenian mountains in Eastern Turkey and flows southeast through Baghdad and joins the Euphrates in southeast Iraq. The Euphrates also rises in East Turkey, flowing south across Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris, forming the Shatt-al-Arab, which flows to the head of the Persian Gulf. So where is that in relation to Eden?

The riversPison andGihon , however, are to be found in China. How could this be God's Gospel?

The Old Testament Forbids Adam from Eating from the Tree of Good and Evil

In Genesis 2:16 we read:

"And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die."

Because Adam did not, in fact, die after eating from the tree after God had warned him, "you will surely die," is to accuse God of lying. This is impossible. God does not lie and to suggest such a thing is an insult to God's Holiness. How can they say that their Book is a Holy Book, a Gospel in view of this?

Another point is that God forbade Adam from eating what would give him knowledge of good and evil. This, too, is unthinkable. God did not create his creatures except to show them good and evil. It is for this reason that God sent His Prophets to warn us and to tell us of the rewards of doinggood over evil. So how could it be that God forbade Adam from eating what would give him knowledge of good and evil? This would contradict the reason for Creation.

Some people may suggest that "spiritual death" is implied, but this argument is unfounded. In the Old Testament, it is written that Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame. If they were feeling shame, then we can deny “spiritual death", therefore "die" must mean in the physical sense.

How God has been Described in the Old Testament

It does not take much to see that God's Holiness has been ridiculed in the Old Testament. It is so far from reality. With much sorrow, this is what we see.

1. Before the Creation of the World, God's spirit was moving on the surface of the water. (Genesis 1:2)

"Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."

2. God became tired from Creating and rested. (Genesis 2:2)

"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing so, on the seventh day he rested from all his work."

3. God created man in his own image. (Genesis 1:27)

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

Genesis 5:1:

"When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God."

Genesis 9:6:

"Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man."

4. God of the Old Testament is a body and can be seen. See Exodus 24:9-11:

"Moses and Aaron,Nadab andAbihu , and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank."

5. God in the Old Testament wrestles with his Prophet Jacob and is beaten. (Genesis 32:24-28)

"So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak. But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The man asked, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

6. God walks in Adam's garden and cannot see Adam as he is hiding behind a tree. Also, God cheats and lies. (Genesis 3:1-24)

3:1Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said,Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent,Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat:

3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said,Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman,Ye shall not surely die:

5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8 And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden.

9 And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him,Where art thou?

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

11 And he said,Who told thee that thouwast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thoushouldest not eat?

12 And the man said,The woman whom thougavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13 And Jehovah God said unto the woman,What is this thou hast done? And the woman said,The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

14 And Jehovah God said unto the serpent,Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy bellyshalt thou go, and dustshalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thoushalt bruise his heel.

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thoushalt bring forth

children ; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule overthee .

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thoushalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toilshalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18 thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thoushalt eat the herb of the field;

19 in the sweat of thy faceshalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of itwast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dustshalt thou return.

20 And the man called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

21 And Jehovah God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and clothed them.

22 And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and livefor ever -

23 therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from thegarden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of thegarden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

7. God feels sorrow. (Genesis 6:6)

"The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain."

8. God confuses the language of the people. (Genesis 11:1-9)

"If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

9. God doubts the message He is receiving. (Genesis 18:20)

"Then the Lord said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not I will know."

10. The Lord speaks evil. (Kings I 22:22)

"I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets, he said. " You will succeed in luring him," said the Lord. "Go and do it." "So now the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you."

These are some of the characteristics that the Old Testament gives to Almighty God; characteristics, which even the lowest of God’s Creatures, do not have. This is the Biblical description of God - lies and untruths. Surely Moses did not teach people this about their Lord; he led people to the Truth, not to lies and evil.

One of the most amazing things is that the Old Testament makes God out to be a liar and the snake to be an honest creature. Any wise man can see that when God said to Adam and Eve that they would "surely die" if they ate from the forbidden tree, and the snake told them otherwise; the fact that they did not die after disobeying God proves the snake right. This cannot be Gospel.

In the Holy Quran, aSurah (no. 112) reads:

In the Name of God, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful

1. Say He, God, is one (alone),

2. God, the Needless (Indivisible,Uni -One),

3. Hebegetteth not, nor is He begotten,

4. And there is none like unto Him."

This is how God is described in the Holy Quran.

Now let us see how the Holy Bible describes Him in our next chapter.

God's Description in the Bible

What kind of God do you think is the God of the Bible? If God has a body and hair; and resides in a certain place; and does not know what is hidden behind a tree; and deceives people and breaks a promise, then what would a man be?

1. The Bible says: God has a human form

In the Bible, according to Genesis 1:26-27:

"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

2. The Bible says: God has hair and wears garments

Daniel 7:9:

"As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne wasflaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze."

3. The Bible says: God has feet

Exodus 24:10-11:

“And that saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the

sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God and they ate and drank."

4. The Bible says: God has a place where He is seen

Revelation 4:2:

"At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne."

5. The Bible says: God walks

Genesis 3:8:

"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden."

6. The Bible says: God comes down upon a place

Exodus 19:20:

"The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So, Moses went up... "

7. The Bible says: God descends on a cloud and passes before a man

Exodus 34:5:

"Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness."

8. The Bible says: God chose a place to stay

Psalms 132:13:

"For the Lord has chosen Zion, he had desired it for his dwelling."

9. The Bible says: God is ignorant; He does not know the house of the believers except by token of blood on the houses

Exodus 12:12-13:

"On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn - both men and animals - and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt."

10. The Bible says: God does not know where a man was hidden or who taught the man

Genesis 3:9-11:

"But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

11. The Bible says: God breaks His promises

Samuel I 2:30-31:

"Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares, "I promised that your house and your father's house would

minister before mefor ever ." But now, the Lord declares: "Far be it from me. Those whohonour me I willhonour , but those who despise me will be disdained. The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your family line"

God is far from this false accusation. For example, God is said to have promised Eli that his priesthood would be forever, for him and his descendants, but later He did not fulfill that promise.

Also in Samuel I13: 13-14:

"You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure, the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command."

God is far from such a false accusation i.e. promising Saul that his kingdom would be forever, but later breaking it and giving his kingdom to another man.

12. The Bible says: God is foolish and weak

Corinthians I 1:25:

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."

13. The Bible says: God grieves

Samuel I15:10:

"Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions."

14. The Bible says: God repents

Exodus 32:14:

"Then God repented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened."

15. The Bible says: God feels sorry for what He has done

Genesis 6:6-7:

"The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So, the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth - men and animals, and creatures that move along theground, and birds of the air - for I am grieved that I have made them."

16. God is said to have wrestled with a man

Genesis 32:24-30:

"So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that hi hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome. Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the placePeniel , saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."

17. God tells a lie, while the serpent speaks the truth

Genesis 3:3-5:

"But God did say, "You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die." "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman, "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

The chapter continues by saying that Adam and Eve went on to eat from the forbidden fruit and events ensued which cannot be attributable to Almighty God.

18. The Bible says: God came down from heaven to break the people's unity

God is said to have come down from heaven in order to break the unity between the people by making them unable to understand each other's language. Is it for that reason that God is afraid of their unity?

"Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastwards, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used bread instead of stone, and tar instead ofmorter . Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." So, the LORD

scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it is called Babel - because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth."

19. God contradicts himself by his actions

Genesis 6:3:

"Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."

Let us look at Genesis 9:28 to see if God abided by his words or if in fact He contradicted Himself:

"After the flood, Noah lived 350 years. Altogether, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died."

It is thus clear that the 120 years already specified as man's lifetime by God have been surpassed.

20. God is described as an angel, or vice versa

Genesis 16:9:

"Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her. The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count. The angel of the LORD also said to her, "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility towards all his brothers." She gave this name to LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me.”

How can these statements be Gospel or Revelation? Wisdom alone tells us that this cannot possibly be the case. These traits cannot be associated with Almighty God. The statements are therefore all wrong.

Old Testament Denies Gods' Knowledge that Adam was Naked

According to Genesis 3:11, God is said to have asked Adam, "Who told you that you were naked?" If God did not know that Adam was naked, then why was he questioning him about it? If we read further into the verse, we see that God apparently did not know that Adam had for sure eaten from the forbidden tree and, too, questioned him about that. Adam explains that Eve had given him the fruit.

How can we therefore raise the Old Testament to the level of God's Gospel? The only level it should attain is that of ignorance.

Now, as regards the serpent. The Lord; Almighty God damned the serpent in the Old Testament for showing Adam (God's chosen Creation) the way to the knowledge of good and evil. Knowing the difference between good and evil is a great virtue and we should thank the ones who show us how to attain this great virtue, which will show us the way to Heaven. Therefore, this indeed cannot be Gospel from God.

God Making another God

Progressing through the Old Testament, we come across another astonishing point:

Exodus 7:1:

"Then the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet."

Are we to assume from this statement that God is not the only God, because He Himself sees others as partners for Himself, and they in turn have prophets?

You may, by now, have some feeling as to how the writers of the Old Testament have injured the Lord God and how bravely they have changed His words, construing them and even turning them into lies. Please give it careful consideration and you will see that anyone with a little wisdom would ask, 'Why should God create another God besides Himself and give him a prophet?' Are these not blind statements and man-made lies?

Dear Christian friend, how could you believe such a thing to be the Gospel from God?

A Short Summary on Why God Cannot be Seen

Every matter or body is a physical property that has been created. It cannot be considered a creator. Everybody or physical matter that we can see depends on several things; first, a place; this the law of physics, to fill a certain area, and, second, light, which has to be reflected from its body and enter our eyes in order for us to see other forms such as shape, direction,colour or other things, such as temperature and pressure in order to beget form.

This is not the place to give a course in physics but we see from the aforementioned discussion that if God were matter, He would need all of the above and much more. This is surely impossible for God. Besides, a body is limited by three dimensions. To be in one place, God

would need to walk, but God is everywhere, so how could he be a physical body. Almighty God is independent of all needs.

In Genesis 3:8, the following is written:

"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden."

This idea may be good for making movies, but not for the wise, thinking human being.

The Old Testament Has Several Gods

In Genesis 3:22 it is written:

"And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil."

Once again, we cannot relate these words to Glorious God. This phrase means, quite clearly, that other gods exist besides God, and that Adam is going to be like one of them, knowing good and evil. This cannot be Gospel from God by any means.

The Old Testament also implies that God is afraid of Adam, as we see from Genesis 3:22:

"He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and livefor ever ."

This is truly amazing. Could God not make Adam blind, so as not to see the tree, or take the power from Adam's hands so that he could not reach it? Maybe the Old Testament is saying that God is powerless! No wise man would ever think that. More than that, it is saying that God is holding grudges against Adam (P) and even hates him. By no means can this be Gospel.

In verse 24, we read:

"After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."

If we analyze this statement we may ask this question: What is the use of driving Adam out of the garden when such a powerful guard existed to guard the tree of life? The guard is a flaming sword turning in every direction to protect the tree. Are we to believe that the flaming sword would not have affected Adam? And if so, it would have been little more than a toy the Lord was playing with. What kind of Gospel is this?

How Does the Old Testament Respect its Prophets?

In Genesis 9:20 we read the following:

"Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent."

Could even the lowest degree of believers be accused of such behavior? Let alone such a great Prophet, God's messenger, whose words and actions are an example to all people for total obedience to God. What I mean is that Noah is the symbol of Truth and Reality. People of the Book look up to him, his Holiness would not permit him to behave in such a way, especially the consumption of wine. I will explain the prohibition of wine later.

Only the wisest human being can be a Prophet, a messenger of God. A drunk cannot be a prophet and this is certainly not a wise man'sbehaviour .

Let us see what kind of prophets the Bible has.