Muhammad in the Bible 6: many other verses and the proof of fire

This is the 6th article written in this blog about the claim about Muhammad being described in The Bible. We have reviewed the descriptions which do not Match with Muhammad's  in Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Habbakuk, Song of Solomon and the Gospel according to John. Several other verses in the Bible have been claimed to match the description of Muhammad. In honor to the truth, all claims may seem to have reasonable justifications. Examples are Gen 49:10, psalm 45, Daniel 7. The list may go on and on. However, in the same way some people may find reasons to attribute some of these verses to descriptions about someone else. For example, Let us look at Genesis 49:10. This verse reads:

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh come: And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be. (1)

Those who assign this verse as description of Muhammad use arguments as follows:

This prophecy is often read in the light of Qur'an 3:81 as a prophecy of Muhammad. Some writers, like David Benjamin, believe that the Hebrew word Shiloh is actually a distortion of the Hebrew word "Shaluh" which means "Apostle/Messenger/One to be sent" or of the Hebrew word "Shiluah" which means "Apostle of God". (2)

As mentioned before, though the argument may seem reasonable, people can argue this verse applies to many other historical characters. For example, Mormons may assign this verse to Josehp Smith in the same way. A verse may appear to partially describe Muhammad, but it doesn't proof it really refers to him. In addition, mainstream Judaism have believed that this verse refers to the Messiah, and The Qur'an validates that Jesus was The Messiah:

until Shiloh comes: [This refers to] the King Messiah, to whom the kingdom belongs (שֶׁלוֹ) , and so did Onkelos render it: [until the Messiah comes, to whom the kingdom belongs]. According to the Midrash Aggadah, [“Shiloh” is a combination of] שַׁי לוֹ, a gift to him, as it is said:“they will bring a gift to him who is to be feared” (Ps. 76:12). - [From Gen. Rabbah ed. Theodore-Albeck p. 1210 ] (3)

Looking at the Big Picture to determin eg.  if Muhammad really is foretold by some Bible verses

The arguments and the refuttals from any side may go on and on. I would like to offer a different approach to determine if The Qur'an and the prophet of Islam were foretold by the books of the Bible. Let us examine whether it could be possible for the Bible to proclaim the advent of a final revelation and a prophet as claimed by The Quran and the Hadith, without falling into contradiction.

The Bible presents a unique fact. All of God's word is eternal, and for matter of assurance it does not change. The following verses from The Old and The New Testament attest about it:

- "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8

-"For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle [a tiny mark in the original spelling of a word] will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." Matthew 5:18

- "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail." Luke 16:17

The Bible besides telling us about the un-changeable character of God land His Word, it prevents from listening lightly from any message or any person claiming to be talking from God. The proof of fire is to compare it to previous messages. If it speaks a different message is not from YHWH Elohim:

"You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you."Deuteronomy 4:2

"...if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ." Galatians 1:9-10

-"'This people honors me with their lips,  but their heart is far from me, and they worship me in vain,  teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" -Matthew 15:8-9

- "Every word of God is purified; he is like a shield for those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he reprove you, and prove you to be a liar. -Proverbs 30:5-6

- "but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.-Matthew 24:10-11, 13-14 NIV 

- "For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect." - Matthew 24:24 NIV

- Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words (of Jesus, of God) will never pass away. -Matthew 24: 35 NIV

- But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. - John 20:31 NIV

Paradoxically, The Quran and the Hadith present  a very distinct message. As explained in another article (4), the Qur'an admonishes the believer to do good deeds and earn the passage to heaven. The Bible on the other hand says that God offered himself for the payment of our sins because He loves us, the believer only needs to believe this is true, and one would have life in his name. This message is consistently found throughout the Bible. People may argue saying the Torah is clear to say that righteousness is achieved by fulfilling all the commandments in the Torah, or that people was justified by the animal sacrifices offered to God. However, other verses in the Bible do not support this idea:

4 What am I going to do with you, Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, Judah? Your loyalty is like the morning mist and like the early dew that vanishes 5 This is why I have used the prophets to cut them down; I have killed them with the words of My mouth. My judgment strikes like lightning. 6 For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. - Hosea 6:4 (HCSB)

16 Lebanon is not enough for fuel, or its animals enough for a burnt offering. - Isaiah 40:16 (HCSB) 

The Bible clearly explains that God spoke through prophets with figures of speech which were shadows of what was to come (Hebrews 10:1, Colossians 2:17). From Genesis to Revelation there is one central message: people do sin against God, and that sin deserves punishment and separation from God. 

 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.Romans 6:23 (HCSB)

However that central message also tells us that God is Our redeemer, and He promised salvation for us. 

 17 This is what the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who leads you in the way you should go. Isaiah 48:17 (HCSB)

Redeem means Compensate for the faults or bad aspects of (something) (4), or in this case of someone. God basically says He saves us from having to pay with our death, by doing some compensation. His Salvation comes through God himself, Jesus whose name in Hebrew means salvation of YHWH. These are the Good News (a.k.a the Gospel) consistently preached through The Word of God.

 This is the main issue with the prophethood of Muhammad. Since the Qur'an presents a different gospel, as mentioned in the Bible, there is no foundation to sustain that his prophethood was foretold by The books of the people of The Book, The Bible.

CONCLUSION 

I hope the readers of this article understand that what I've presented is not aiming to insult. The purpose is to invite the reader to think about the arguments made. These series of articles about Muhammad only target to highlight that there are many voids in the Claim that Muhammad was foretold in the books of The People of The Book. And this has been one of the main reasons why authentic rational believers from The People of The Book have not come to Believe in Muhammad's prophethood. But not only of his but in the prophethood of others, such as Joseph Smith or Charles Russel, to cite a couple examples.

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Footnotes 

(1) Genesis 49:10 (ASV) 

(2) http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_in_the_Bible#Genesis_49:10

(3) http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8244#showrashi=true

(4) Oxford dictionary online