Thursday 30 August 2018

The God Who Reigns Forever!


The late Ahmad Deedat had published a little pamphlet titled “The God That Never Was”where he posted a series of Biblical quotations which focused on the humanity of Jesus (something which no informed Christian denies but wholeheartedly affirms) in order to try to show how absurd it is to believe that Christ is God.
For a response to this blatant distortion of biblical teaching we recommend this written reply by the noted South African Christian apologist John Gilchrist.
What we would like to do here is address the following section from the booklet:
The Kingdom of "God": And he (Jesus) shall reign over THE HOUSE OF JACOB forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke, 1:33)
The Titles of "God": "The king of the Jews" (Matthew, 2:2), "The king of Israel" (John, 1:49; 12:13) (Ibid., p. 5)
The point of quoting these texts which focus on Christ being the King of Israel and of the Jews is to show how absurd it is to assume that Jesus is God since God is not a tribal deity who only reigns over a particular people. God is the sovereign Lord and Sustainer of all creation, a fact which all Christians would agree with.
Suffice it to say, this argument is nothing more than a gross distortion of the biblical teaching concerning the Person and work of the Lord Jesus, and simply illustrates the fact that Muslim apologists are not interested in hearing what Christians have to say. They are only interested in perverting the message of the inspired Scriptures for the purpose of scoring cheap debate points with their fan base.
In the first place, the same inspired writings, which the booklet selectively cites from, affirm that Christ is the sovereign Lord of creation who sits enthroned at God’s right hand as King of kings and Lord of lords:
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’” Matthew 28:18
“and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:19-23
“and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5
“These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” Revelation 17:14 – cf. 19:11-16
The Quran, on the other hand, proclaims that Allah is the only one who possesses absolute sovereignty over the heavens and the earth, and doesn’t allow anyone to share in his rulership over creation:
To God belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and God hath power over all things. S. 3:189 Y. Ali
Say: "Praise be to God, who begets no son, and has no partner in (His) dominion: Nor (needs) He any to protect Him from humiliation: yea, magnify Him for His greatness and glory!" S. 17:111 Y. Ali
Moreover, the ahadith teach that Allah hates for someone to be called King of kings since he is the only king or master of the kingdom:
Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "The most awful name in Allah's sight on the Day of Resurrection, will be (that of) a man calling himself Malik Al-Amlak (the king of kings)." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 224)
In fact, the title “master of the kingdom” happens to be one of the divine names which cannot be ascribed to any creature:
Say: O Allah, Master of the Kingdom! Thou givest the kingdom to whomsoever Thou pleasest and takest away the kingdom from whomsoever Thou pleasest, and Thou exaltest whom Thou pleasest and abasest whom Thou pleasest in Thine hand is the good; surety, Thou hast power over all things. S. 3:26 Shakir
Mâlik al-Mulk: The Master of the Kingdom
Owner or Possessor of the Kingdom, who grants sovereignty to whomever He will.
Malik al-Mulk is one of the Ninety-Nine Names. (Aisha Bewley, Divine Names)
Thus, the only way that Jesus could be the King of kings and Lord of lords is if he happens to be God Almighty (even though he is not the Father or the Holy Spirit)!
Therefore, Jesus isn’t merely the King of the Jews, but the King of all creation. It just so happens that he reigns over the world from a particular place and a specific people. More on this point a little later.
This leads me to my second point. The Holy Bible, specifically the writings of the Old Testament, teach that Yahweh himself rules over the world as the King of Israel, his chosen people:
“Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise in the congregation of the godly ones. Let Israel be glad in his Maker; Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King. Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre. For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.” Psalm 149:1-3
“‘Present your case,’ the Lord says. ‘Bring forward your strong arguments,’ The King of Jacob says.” Isaiah 41:21
“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.’” Isaiah 44:6
Astonishingly, the Lord Jesus applies to himself this very title of “the first and the last” in the book of Revelation:
“and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen… When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; AND I WAS DEAD, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.’” Revelation 1:5-7, 17-18
The Quran itself acknowledges that is a title that belongs to God alone:
He is the First and the Last, the Evident and the Immanent: and He has full knowledge of all things. S. 57:3 Y. Ali
Thus, by ascribing this divine name to his own Person, the Lord Jesus was(is) basically claiming to be the eternal God!
Returning to the OT witness, the Scriptures proclaim that Yahweh’s rule wasn’t limited to Israel since he reigned as King over the entire creation:
“For the kingdom is the Lord’s And He rules over the nations.” Psalm 22:28
“O clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy. For the Lord Most High is to be feared, A great King over all the earth… Sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with a skillful psalm. God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne.” Psalm 47:1-2, 6-8
What this means is that Yahweh was ruling over the nations from the land of his chosen people, specifically from Zion in Jerusalem, which became the nation’s capital:
“‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall beMy own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” Exodus 19:5-6
“When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.” Deuteronomy 32:8-9 English Standard Version (ESV)
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, In the city of our God, His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion in the far north, The city of the great King. God, in her palaces, Has made Himself known as a stronghold.” Psalm 48:1-3
“He also rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has founded forever.” Psalm 78:67-69
“Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah, We found it in the field of Jaar. Let us go into His dwelling place; Let us worship at His footstool. Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength… For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. ‘This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.’” Psalm 132:6-8, 13-14
“Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with allyour heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: ‘Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.’” Zephaniah 3:14-17
As such, the Hebrew Scriptures state that Israel wasn’t meant to have a man ruling over them since Yahweh had committed himself to being their king:
“When the men of Israel said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us, both you and your son, also your son’s son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.’ But Gideon said to them, ‘I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.’” Judges 8:22-23
However, Israel insisted on having a human king like the nations around them, something which disheartened the Lord who still went ahead and gave them what they wanted:
“The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.’” 1 Samuel 8:7
“When you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ although the Lord your God was your king.” 1 Samuel 12:12
Yahweh eventually singled out David and his descendants to sit on his earthly throne in Jerusalem:
“… Moreover, I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you. When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.” 1 Chronicles 17:10b-14
“Yet, the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever. For He has chosen Judah to be a leader; and in the house of Judah, my father’s house, and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. Of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons), He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. He said to me, ‘Your son Solomon is the one who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be a son to Me, and I will be a father to him. I will establish his kingdom forever if he resolutely performs My commandments and My ordinances, as is done now.’” 1 Chronicles 28:4-7
Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father; and he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. All the officials, the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David pledged allegiance to King Solomon. The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him royal majesty which had not been on any king before him in Israel.” 1 Chronicles 29:23-25
“Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the Lord your God; because your God loved Israel establishing them forever,therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.” 2 Chronicles 9:8
And since Israel’s king served as Yahweh’s earthly representative, his kingdom was to extend from Zion to cover the entire earth as a reflection of the fact that it is Yahweh who rules over all the nations:
“Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!’ He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, ‘But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.’ I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!” Psalm 2:1-12
“‘I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations.’ Selah…The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them. The north and the south, You have created them; Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name… Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones, And said, ‘I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found David My servant; With My holy oil I have anointed him, With whom My hand will be established; My arm also will strengthen him. The enemy will not deceive him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. But I shall crush his adversaries before him, And strike those who hate him. My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, And in My name his horn will be exalted. I shall also set his hand on the sea And his right hand on the rivers. He will cry to Me, “You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.” I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him. So I will establish his descendants forever And his throne as the days of heaven. If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments, If they violate My statutes And do not keep My commandments, Then I will punish their transgression with the rod And their iniquity with stripes. But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever And his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful.’” Psalm 89:3-4, 11-12, 19-37
However, this introduced a problem since none of the Davidic kings were able to implement God’s rule perfectly due to their sinfulness. Nor were they able to reign forever since death prevented them from doing so. Therefore, God decided to remedy the problem by taking on the responsibility of personally fulfilling the promises to David by actually becoming a human descendant of David. As the prophet Isaiah announced:
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God (el gibbor), Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of Hisgovernment or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7
The title “Mighty God” is one of the names of Yahweh himself, just as the next chapter of Isaiah shows:
“Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God (el gibbor).” Isaiah 10:20-21
This helps us understand how the OT prophets could announce that a day would come when Israel would have only one King who would rule the earth from Jerusalem, with that King being identified as both Yahweh God and David, meaning the Messiah:
“Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and ONE KING will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’” Ezekiel 37:21-25
“Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing toward the east; and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision which I saw when He came to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. Then I heard one speaking to me from the house, while a man was standing beside me. He said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the corpses of their kings when they die,’” Ezekiel 43:1-7
“… and the name of the city [Jerusalem] from that day shall be, ‘The Lord is there.’” Ezekiel 48:35
“Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him! And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be THE ONLY ONE, and His name THE ONLY ONE… Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship THE KING, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up TO JERUSALEM to worship THE KING, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them.” Zechariah 14:9, 16-17
The King who was to come would be both divine and human, truly God and truly man, in order to reign on David’s throne forever.
This brings me to my final point.

Israel’s King Has Come!
According to the inspired Christian Scriptures, the Lord Jesus is the eternal Word and divine Son of God who became a human Son of David for the purpose of fulfilling the promises which God made concerning the household of David:
“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.’” Luke 1:26-35
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men… There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him… And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-4, 9-10, 14
Jesus even entered into Jerusalem riding on the foal of a donkey in order to fulfill what had been spoken by the prophet Zechariah:
“On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.’ Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.’ These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.” John 12:12-16
Here is what that prophecy says in context:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut off.And He will speak peace to the nations; And His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.” Zechariah 9:9-11
Since Zechariah clearly proclaims that Jerusalem’s King was to reign over the entire world, not just Israel, this means that by fulfilling this prophecy Jesus was basically announcing to the people that he is the One who has come to rule the whole earth.
Hence, just because Jesus happens to be the King of the Jews doesn’t mean that he isn’t also the sovereign Lord of the earth, since God has appointed Israel’s Ruler to reign as King over the whole world.
Therefore, let the whole earth rejoice and let all the nations be glad because the Messiah, God’s beloved Son, has come and has taken his seat on God’s heavenly throne to reign over all creation as the King of Israel:
“And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, ‘THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.’… ‘He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.’” Matthew 27:37, 42
“Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael said to Him, ‘How do You know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’ And He said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.’” John 1:45-51
“Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe through Him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. So He became higher in rank than the angels, just as the name He inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did He ever say, You are My Son; today I have become Your Father, or again, I will be His Father, and He will be My Son? When He again brings His firstborn into the world, He says, And all God’s angels must worship Him. And about the angels He says: He makes His angels winds, and His servants a fiery flame, but to the Son: Your throne, God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of justice. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; this is why God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of joy rather than Your companions.” Hebrews 1:1-9 HCSB
So much for Deedat’s distortion of God’s inspired Word, the Holy Bible.

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