God does not lie

Submitted by Keith Williams (United States), Oct 16, 2008 at 19:09

"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent, Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? [Numbers 23:19]

Hi btilly,

Congratulations on your continued interests in Islam and may God guide you to the right path. I found that the interpretation of Qur'an 3:54 that you quoted in your last comment that "God lies" was incorrect. Here let me help you if I can.

And (then unbelievers) plotted and planned, and God too planned, and the best of planners is God. (Qur'an 3:54)

وَمَڪَرُواْ وَمَڪَرَ ٱللَّهُ‌ۖ وَٱللَّهُ خَيۡرُ ٱلۡمَـٰكِرِينَ

wamakaroo wamakara Allahu waAllahu khayru almakireena

The Arabic word makara has both a bad and a good meaning, that of making an intricate plan of which the unbelievers in this case the Jews were doing against Jesus who were trying to kill him, which was their secret purpose. The enemies of God are constantly doing that. But God - in whose hands is all good - has His plans also and in this case he raised Jesus and by raising him up to himself that clear Jesus of the falsehoods they were saying against Jesus and clearing him of the falsehoods and blasphemes of the unbelievers and making those who follow Jesus superior to those who reject faith until the day of resurrection against which the evil ones will have no chance whatever against God's plans.

You really have to read the verses before this one and after to get the full meaning and context that I tried to sum up for you in the paragraph above. Here are all the verses together.

Qur'an 3:51-57
"It is God who is my Lord and your Lord; then worship Him. This is a way that is straight." (51) When Jesus found unbelief on their part, he said: "Who will be my helpers to (the work of) God?" Said the Disciples: "We are God's helpers we believe in God and do thou bear witness that we have surrendered to him. (52) "Our Lord! we believe in what thou hast revealed, and we follow the Messenger; then write us down among those who bear witness." (53) And (then unbelievers) plotted and planned, and God too planned, and the best of planners is God. (54) Behold! God said: "O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject Faith, to the Day of Resurrection; then shall ye all return unto Me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute. (55) "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter nor will they have anyone to help. (56) "As to those who believe, and work righteousness God, will pay them (in full) their reward; but God loveth not those who do wrong. (57)

As you can see. God did not lie. He fulfilled his plan to the fullest and foiled the evil plans of the unbelievers.

What are the falsehoods that God cleared Jesus of? The falsehoods that God cleared Jesus of as stated in the Qur'an are found here in the Bible. The unbelievers were mocking Jesus and were trying to kill him by crucifixion but could not. God raised Jesus to himself clearing him of their schemes and falsehoods below:

The falsehoods
Luke 23

And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God."[35]

The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine,[36]

and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself."[37]

Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us." [39]

Here is where God saves Jesus and clears Jesus of the falsehoods:

Luke 23

Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. [44] Here it says that Jesus was on the cross for a very short time (9hrs) and therefore was a long ways from dying from crucifixion which takes 2 to 3 days or longer before you die from it.

Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. [45]
This was a sign to the unbelievers of God coming to Jesus defense and that their plans are about to be foiled.

And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last. [46] As you can see he was still very strong and no where close to death and this is when God raised him up to himself basically saving him from the falsehoods of "if you are the Chirst save yourself. God saved him making fools of them all.

So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!" [47] You see the Romans knew what had just happened and that something extraordinary and miraculous with this crucifixion. It was a miracle for Jesus to be saved from the crucifixion and so the Jews did not get the satisfaction in killing him as they had planned.

And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breast and returned. [48] As you can see the Jews were very, very, very, angry that God's plan was better than theirs. They did not get the satisfaction in killing Jesus because God did not give them the power to kill Jesus and all through out his ministry they did not have the power or the Romans. It only appeared to them that they killed him.

Quran 4:157-158
That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";― but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not.― (157) Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise. (158)

But all his acquaintances, and the women who followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. [49] The Jews and Romans tried to kill Jesus but failed. Most people don't bother to read these scriptures and see what was really happening here.

The evidence in the scriptures shows that God raised Jesus spirit and then raised his body after. They killed him not. The scriptures from the Qur'an are not new. Jesus's disciples said the same thing but most of their writings were destroyed

Peace,

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