HOW TO TURN NUMBERS 23:19 INTO THE CONDEMNATION OF ISLAM.
□ INTRODUCTION
Anyone who has debated with Muslims knows that Numbers 23:19 (but only part of the first clause, in fact only the first 5 words out of a verse containing 27 words), is probably one of their top three go to verses to try and disprove the Incarnation.
But Numbers 23:19 is not a valid argument against the Incarnation unless you’re argument is that you can’t read even a single verse properly. I mean seriously it’s a metaphor saying God is always faithful and fulfills His word and promises.
If anything it’s actually a heads up advance flyer for the divinity of Christ because Christ did everything He said He would do. Jesus is the antithesis of the Numbers 23:19 charge of human deceit and vacillation. We can express Jesus thus: “Jesus as God, is a man who told the truth, never changed His mind, who never just spoke, but always acted, who’s promises He always fulfilled”. That’s putting in the positive what the verse actually says in its original negative construction:
“God is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19 HCSB)
Jesus is the ultimate personification and fulfilment of this prophecy. He did indeed fulfil the promises of the Old Testament. Jesus cleansed lepers, healed the blind, cast out demons, raised the dead to life and Himself rose again from the dead entirely in line with the OT prophetic context. When the imprisoned John the Baptist sent word asking if Jesus was the expected Messiah, Jesus replied:
“Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: [5] the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news” (Matthew 11:4‭-‬5).
In this reply Jesus proved that He was fulfilling the promises by His actions.
In His darkest hour the night before He died, Jesus never wavered or changed His mind, He knew what the fulfilment of His destiny required. He spoke no untruth, on the contrary He both claimed and proved that He is the epitome of truth.
“Jesus told him, “I am the way, THE TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
No Muslims, far from proving that God is not a man, Numbers 23:19 actually vindicates the Incarnation.
Note this commentary on Numbers 23:19:
“That he should lie — Break his promise made to his people for their preservation and benediction. Neither the son of man that he should repent — Change his counsels or purposes, as men change theirs, either because they are not able to execute them, or because they are better informed, or their minds are changed by some unexpected occurrence, or by their passions, none of which things have place in God. When the inspired writers speak of God’s repenting, as Jeremiah 18:8, and Amos 7:3-6, they are to be understood as speaking figuratively, and adapting their language to our apprehensions. They only mean that God changes the course of his providence toward mankind, according as He sees a change in their dispositions and actions.” (Benson)
□ NUMBERS 23:19 PROVES THE QURAN’S MANMADE ORIGINS
It may not be obvious, because Christians have been so used to playing defence with this verse, but Numbers 23:19, this verse that Muslims love to partially quote trying to disprove the Incarnation, actually rebounds on them and condems the Quran. Yes, the “changing of mind” abrogation in the Quran is a sure proof of its manmade origin.
A classic example of changing revelations to suit his circumstances, is Muhammad’s teaching on drinking. In the early days, before Muhammad gained a significant following he said that although a sin, it was alright to drink:
Surah 2:219 “They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: “In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit.” They ask thee how much they are to spend; Say: “What is beyond your needs.” Thus doth God Make clear to you His Signs: In order that ye may consider” (Yusuf Ali)
As his power base grew, he presented a stronger position. It was not acceptable to have had any intoxicants “close enough to prayers to fog the mind.” This surely recognises that drinking alcohol at other times wasn’t a problem.
Surah 4:43 “O ye who believe! Approach not prayers with a mind befogged, until ye can understand all that ye say” (Yusuf Ali)
But, when his position had become strongly established, Muhammad forbade the use of intoxicants entirely.
Surah 5:90 – 91: “O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,- of Satan’s handwork: eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper. [91] “Satan’s plan is (but) to excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of God, and from prayer: will ye not then abstain?” (Yusuf Ali)
His final revelation calls the use of intoxicants “Satan’s handiwork.” This puts him in the awkward position of having had Allah approve of “Satan’s Handiwork’ when he said that there was “some profit for men” in the use of intoxicants.
□ DOES GOD VACILLATE ON SIN?
When the Bible speaks of God repenting, there is no thought of sin. Neither is there any hint of vacillation, as if God wavers in His purpose or changes His plans in response to man’s doings. God is unchanging or immutable. His purpose has been fixed from eternity and He will establish it (Isaiah 46:10; Ephesians 1:11). He does not change His mind as man does (1 Samuel 15:29).
So how do we explain the many Old Testament references to God repenting? When Scripture speaks of God repenting, it is viewing God from man’s viewpoint (“anthropomorphism”).
From man’s viewpoint it seems as if God is changing His mind, although from God’s viewpoint, He never changes His mind and His purpose is always carried out. We refer to the sun setting, but that is only from our limited viewpoint. The actual truth is, the sun did not move; the earth revolved. But we speak from our viewpoint.
For an in depth look at what it takes to change God’s mind, this is an example of excellent teaching on the subject:
bible.org/seriespage/lesson-3-man-who-caused-god-repent-exodus-327-14-30-35-331-6-12-17
□ WHY QURANIC ABROGATION IS NOT GOD CHANGING HIS MIND
The central passage that deals with abrogation is Surah 2:106:
“None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar: Knowest thou not that Allah Hath power over all things?” (Yusuf Ali)
Not all Muslim scholars agree on what abrogation covers. Briefly here is a simplified assessment:
# Muslim scholars of old hold to the concept that some ayahs in the Quran abrogate other ayahs in the Quran, but do not all hold to the same set of abrogated and abrogating ayahs.
# Other Muslim scholars are of the opinion that the Quran may abrogate the Quran as well as the Sunnah (deed or example of Mohammad) and vice versa.
# Some Muslim scholars hold that the Quran abrogates all the previous scriptures, specifically the scriptures sent to Musa (The Torah) and Isa (Gospel), but not itself.
# Some Muslim scholars, especially of recent times do not believe in the concept of abrogation at all.
Thus we can see, as so often the case, there is no consensus amongst Islam’s scholars as to what is meant by Surah 2:106. Nevertheless, we can still draw some valid conclusions as follows:
(i). If abrogation is true, then the Quran cannot be an eternal guide because half its content has already been deemed useless by Islamic scholars.
(ii). If the Quran is an eternal guide, then abrogation is false and scholars who defend abrogation are wrong.
(iii). In either case the Quran cannot be the timeless and inspired word of God.
Some Muslims, in order to justify the Quranic doctrine of abrogation, claim that the Bible teaches something similar. They assert that the Bible contains many instructions and practices which have been abrogated, annulled, by later commandments, i.e. Sabbath observance, dietary restrictions etc.
Muslims think that they can justify the Quranic problem of abrogation if they can prove that the Bible also contains abrogation. This presents huge difficulties of which these are just 2 that stand out:
1). To begin with, appealing to the Bible does absolutely nothing to support the doctrine of Islamic abrogation for several reasons. First, if abrogation is a logical and/or theological problem then appealing to the Bible doesn’t resolve the dilemma. It would only prove that both the Holy Bible and the Quran are wrong and cannot, therefore, be revelations from God. This is a fallacy of false analogy and a red herring. Attempting to justify committing a wrong on the grounds that someone else is guilty of another wrong is clearly a red herring ― that is, a fallacy of irrelevance ― because if this form of argument were cogent, one could justify anything ― assuming that there is another wrong to point to.
2). Secondly, the Bible in any event does not teach abrogation since the Quran defines abrogation as blotting out, previous instructions:
“God blots out, and He establishes whatsoever He will; and with Him is the Essence of the Book” (Surah 13:39 Arberry).
The Bible, on the other hand, doesn’t blot out or abolish previous revelations but fulfills and consummates them, just as Jesus taught:
“Do not think that I have come to ABOLISH the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to ABOLISH them but to FULFIL them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18) [Caps for emphasis]
Jesus doesn’t abolish the Hebrew Bible, but perfectly fulfills it in his life and teachings. What Jesus was basically telling the people is that the Hebrew Bible was specifically revealed in such a way so as to find its true meaning expression and completion in the Messiah’s work and interpretation of it.
For a more thorough and complete exegesis of this passage see James Arlandson’s excellent article, ‘How Jesus Christ fulfills the Old Testament’:
www.answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/fulfilled.htm
Other passages basically reiterate the above point, indicating that the Hebrew Bible had a sequential specific fulfillment in the Messiah, and that once it was fulfilled, believers were then required to apply the Messiah’s interpretation and completion of it.
“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is strongly urged to enter it. [17] But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out” (Luke 16:16‭-‬17).
Notice that the progress from the Law and the Prophets toward the new era occurred after John had been sent to announce the Messiah’s advent. The Law and the Prophets are now subsumed and consummated in the Gospel of God’s kingdom as proclaimed in the life, ministry, death and resurrection of our all in one, Prophet, Priest and King Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:1-4).
Christ is the focal point of the Law, the very One who consummates the Law as he brings it to its completion and fulfillment.
“Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24).
The Law was designed to lead us to Christ, its true fulfillment.
It is clear from the foregoing that the view of the New Testament writers is that the Hebrew Scriptures were deliberately designed by God to foreshadow Christ and his Church. The Old Testament Scriptures contained shadows, types, analogies, and copies of spiritual realities that awaited the coming of Christ. Old Testament peoples, places, events and things were deliberately designed to be copies of a far greater spiritual reality, with Christ manifesting that reality through his fulfillment of it. The New Testament Scriptures are basically the record of how Christ unveiled the spiritual reality underlying the Old Testament revelation:
“Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I WILL REMOVE THE INIQUITY OF THIS LAND IN A SINGLE DAY.” (Zechariah 3:8-9)
□ CONCLUSIONS
We can distinguish the orderly, sequential, progressive, revelation and fulfilment of God”s word and contrast it with the disordered Quran.
Craig Winn in his blistering broadside against Islam in “Prophet of Doom” describes the Quranic concept of “abrogation” thus:-
“A perfect book cannot by definition be disordered. Yet there is a larger problem. The second Surah contains the verse on abrogation which says: “Whenever We cancel a message or throw it into oblivion, We replace it with a better one.” (Surah 2.106) Without dismembering the entire Quran so that every line follows the revelation that immediately preceded it, the “cancel and replace” concept is futile. How is anyone to know which verses Allah “threw into oblivion?” Without context and chronology, the “cancel and replace” verse renders the entire Quran irrelevant. If one line encourages slavery and another condones it, which is to be believed? If one verse says that infidels are to be taxed to death and others order them put to death, what are Muslims to do?
The answer is obvious, but apparently not to Muslims (or those in our statehouses, media, and pulpits) who coddle Islam. A “god” who changes his mind repeatedly over a score of years and needs a verse to deal with his contradictions cannot be “God.” A religion devoted to a false spirit isn’t worth protecting, especially when it motivates men to murder.”
And again Winn hits the nail on the head …
“This brings us to one of the Quran’s biggest problems—Allah’s contradictions. Muhammad wants us to believe that the creator of the universe, is capricious and unreliable, changing his mind by canceling prior truths and obliterating his divine revelations.
In the context of God, this is senseless, and as Numbers 23:19 points out, is a mark of a capricious human mind, and not of God. But in the context of a forgetful man trying to counterfeit the written record of God to serve his own self serving agenda, it’s perfect. The religion of Islam failed in Mecca. Muhammad had to cast it into oblivion, to abrogate it, to move on with the doctrine of politics and submission. Allah replaces Ar-Rahman. Piracy replaces inheritance. Jews replace Meccans. Swords replace words. Muslims replace everybody. And Muhammad gets what he wants: money, women, and power.
The reason the “abrogation” verse is so important is that it wipes out Islam as a religion. The first ninety surahs are cast into oblivion. The prophet has a new Qiblah—and a political doctrine built upon submission and the sword. But as bad as that sounds, you don’t know the half of it yet. The last two dozen surahs are by far the worst; they contain some of the most immoral, hateful, intolerant, and violent words ever uttered by men.”
In summary we can thus easily demonstrate by using Numbers 23:19 (as a whole) as the benchmark, that the Quran is not the unchanging Word of God but a disposable, dispensible and capricious work of the man Muhammad, thus once again proving that Muhammad was a false prophet.
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