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Today we move to Sura 7, known as "Al Araf"

As with Sura 6, so also Sura 7, the origin is Mecca, that is, it is among the earlier chapters written.

Allah, the merciful, is shown in the first verses of this chapter as one who destroys whole villages in his wrath, and as one who is carefully weighing with his balances the works of men. Those who are "unjust to our verses" will be condemned. Thus is Islam portrayed as a religion of works, somewhat akin to the religion forming in Rome as Islam rose. Here is a case where, as Paul explains, "the letter kills." That is, my religion vs your religion. My book vs your book. Not understood by these law makers and law keepers is the New Covenant written on the hearts of men, not on tables of stone, or pieces of leather, or papyri. The changed life. A new heart.

Muhammad's story of Adam is re-told here, with the added information that the devil was created from fire and thus felt superior to Adam, made of clay. This is why he would not bow to Adam as he is being commanded to do. God's reaction to the devil is to get rid of him immediately, but the devil asks that he be allowed to stay until the resurrection. Fine, says he, and he, Allah, will fill hell with all of the devil's followers.

There follows the story of the fall of man as recorded in the Bible. But when they tasted the tree, says Muhammad, "their private parts appeared to them." This part of the sinfulness of man stands out in the Koran as the central feature of all. But, they clothe themselves, then are given clothes and "feathers" (?) as they leave the garden.

But the confusion regarding clothing continues in the next verses (27ff) as Allah is made to say that the devil, now called Satan, "got your parents out of the garden by taking their clothes off to show them their private parts."

Again thinking in the natural, Muhammad cannot conceive of a situation in which nakedness could be a good thing, just as approved as the nakedness of all the rest of the creation. So he has to have Adam and Eve clothed originally, then made naked by the devil. And once more the word of God has been corrupted, not by Jews, not by Christians, but by this prophet.

Yet as you read on, you hear Allah cursing all unbelievers. "So who is more unjust than he who forged a lie against Allah or considered his verses lies?" No, not until a "camel penetrates the eye of the needle" will such people enter the special garden of God. Muhammad hear even copies from Jesus to make his point.

In verse 46 we are introduced to the al-araf, which gives its name to the chapter. This is one of the many non-Arabic words of the Koran, and is defined as a wall between the heavenly garden and hell. Muhammad paints a picture of persons in hell and others who may be on their way there. He shows them "on the fence" as it were, on a high wall, not necessarily good enough for heaven or bad enough for hell, a sort of Islamic purgatory. Muhammad again betrays the culture in which he was raised, where ideas foreign to God's revelation have already taken hold on God's people. The prophet of Mecca freely borrows from them, it would seem.

Verses 59ff tell of Noah's encounters with evil men of his day. Evil of course because they considered Allah's verses lies.

Muhammad now adds to the record his own creations: Houd, Saleh, and Shoaib. There is essentially no evidence from history or archaeology, or the Bible, that these persons ever lived. They are brought in to make a point.

The prophet Houd. A messenger from Allah exhorting people to serve Allah faithfully. "Houd" makes mention of the "viceroys of the people of Noah." The people whom he is addressing are told that they are indeed those viceroys, and that they have been spared judgment, an awful "vengeance and wrath." Does not Muhammad believe in a universal flood? Is he saying that some were allowed to live?

Themoud appears with a very special camel. He preaches his message to some rebellious infidels, who harm his special camel, and therefore come to ruin in an earthquake. Allah is not to be messed with.

Shoaib is the center of a similar tale. His hearers defy him and call him back to their religion, and are also seized by "the quake", over which Allah refuses to be grieved, since they are nothing more than infidels.

Verses 94ff. Other prophets are sent to various villages, always with the same result. Allah concludes that "if we will, we can afflict them with their sins and seal their hearts so that they will not hear..."

Yes, God has included all in unbelief, says Paul. Yes, all have sinned. All are worthy of eternal damnation. Yet the Hebrew/Christian Bible holds out until the end a bright hope for salvation for all who will call on the name of the Lord. This hope is absent in the Koran, since it is totally dependent on whether Allah will deceive a man or tell him the truth. And then it is dependent on whether man's works are good enough to meet the demanding requirements.

Muhammad's history lesson now moves on to Moses. We see again that mixture of true and false. For example, in the relating of Moses' initial encounters with Pharaoh, Muhammad has all the sorcerers of the land falling down and worshiping the true God when they realize how impotent is their craft. Threatened with crucifixion and the loss of hands and feet, they cry out, "Our lord, pour out patience on us and cause us to die Muslims."

Muslims. 2000 years before Muhammad, who calls himself the first of that tribe.

Oh, and did I say "crucifixion"? Yes indeed. Hundreds of years before the Roman Empire brought it to the world's attention, Muhammad has Pharaoh using it on a regular basis in Egypt.

Israel is delivered from Egypt, but immediately becomes idolatrous. Moses is called to a thirty-night meeting which stretches into forty nights. God then appears in glory in the mountain, and the mountain is pulverized. Moses passes out, and when he revives he recognizes he is the first of the believers. Originally, this honor was Abraham's. Then Muhammad said it was his own. And above we read of even Egyptian sorcerers claiming the title of Muslim, too. Who was indeed the first Muslim believer?

Stone tablets become wooden boards in the Koran. Ten commandments become "an exposition of everything." When the boards are later thrown down, no breakage is recorded. But Aaron's hair almost is, as Moses grabs him there and drags him to himself, while Aaron pleads for his life.

A calf made from Israelite ornaments actually "gave a mooing sound." Allah is mad at the people for thinking it could do anything other than moo. After all, it was only a cow. It cannot talk truth to you like I can.

Perhaps worst of all in this segment of Hebrew lore is Muhammad's contention that the great prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15-22, about a prophet like Moses who will come, is actually Muhammad.

That this is false I shall try to make evident here.

1. The prophet is to come out of Israel, "like [Moses] from your midst, from your brethren." He must be Jewish. Muhammad was not Jewish.

2. He will speak God's words, in particular, prophecies that shall come to pass. The Mosaic passage here indicates that the way a person could be identified as a false prophet is by the accuracy of his predictive prophecy. Muhammad spoke almost no predictive prophecy. We will address his attempts at this practice later, and show that there is no clear fulfillment of anything he ever predicted.

I probably did not need to prove to any listener/reader that Muhammad is not "that prophet". Nevertheless, documentation is always important when making statements of Biblical truth. Or any statements.

In the latter verses of Acts chapter 3 is a clear statement of who Deuteronomy's "Prophet" really is. Muhammad here attempts to upstage the Son of God.

The following verses, 163ff, state boldly that Allah tempts people to sin. "We have divided them on the earth into nations, some of them are the good and some are otherwise, and we tempted them with good and evil..." Here Muhammad has come against the Bible's Brother James, who simply says in James 1:13-14 that God does not tempt anyone. When God speaks, everyone else needs to be silent. God shall not be blamed for our wickedness!

We have almost finished sura 7. Next time we will conclude it and go on to 8. Please join us!