It’s become fashionable for Muslim polemicists to cite specific
biblical texts, which seem to deny the necessity of atoning sacrifices for the
forgiveness of sins. The following is one of the passages that Islamic
apologists appeal to:
“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the
punishment of the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the
punishment of the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall
be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. But if the wicked turns from all
his sins that he has committed, and keeps all My statutes, and does that which
is lawful and right, he shall surely live. He shall not die. All
his transgressions that he has committed, they shall not be remembered against
him. Because of his righteousness that he has done, he shall
live. Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the
Lord God, but rather that he should turn from his ways and live?…
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,
says the Lord God. Repent,
and turn away from all your transgressions so that
iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast
away from you all your transgressions whereby you have transgressed, and make
yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O house of
Israel? For
I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, says the
Lord God. Therefore,
repent and live.” Ezekiel 18:20-23, 30-32 Modern English
Version (MEV)
Is Ezekiel denying the necessity and centrality of blood atonement
for reconciliation between God and man? Or is this simply another instance
where Muhammadans are simply distorting what the Holy Bible teaches concerning
this issue?
In the first place, atonement without repentance towards God is
ineffectual, since God’s acceptance of vicarious sacrifices for the remission
of sins is predicated on the individual turning towards God in genuine faith
and obedience, a fact that is affirmed all throughout the inspired New
Testament writings:
“The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers,
has glorified His
Son Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of
Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One and
asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Creator of Life,
whom God has raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His
name, by faith
in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know.
And faith which comes through Him has given him perfect health in your
presence. Now brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your
rulers. But what God foretold through all the prophets, that His Christ should
suffer, He thus fulfilled. Therefore
repent and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, that
times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may
send the One who previously was preached to you, Jesus Christ, whom the heavens
must receive until the time of restoring what God spoke through all His holy
prophets since the world began… God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him
to you first, to bless you in
turning every one of you from your iniquities.’” Acts 3:13-21,
26 MEV
“God exalted this Man to His right hand to be a Ruler and a
Savior, to give
repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” Acts 5:31
“When they heard these things, they were silent. And they
glorified God, saying, ‘Then God has granted to the Gentiles also repentance unto life.’”
Acts 11:18 MEV
“testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and
of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:21 MEV
“‘to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins
and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but
declared first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout all the
region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do works
proving their repentance.” Acts 26:18-20 MEV
“and being made perfect, He became the source of eternal
salvation for
all those who obey Him,” Hebrews 5:9 MEV
“What does it profit, my brothers, if a man says he has faith
but has no works? Can
faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and
lacking daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed
and filled,’ and yet you give them nothing that the body needs, what does it
profit? So faith
by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But a man may say, ‘You
have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will
show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God; you do well.
The demons also believe and tremble. But do you want to be shown, O foolish
man, that faith
without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father
justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? Do you see how faith worked with
his works, and by works faith was made perfect? The
Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned
to him as righteousness,’ and he was called the friend of God. You see then how
by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the
prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out
another way? As
the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.”
MEV
This brings me to my next point. Had these Muslim polemicists
simply bothered to read the rest of Ezekiel they would have found God himself
speaking of atoning sacrifices for purification from sins:
“Then he said to me: ‘Son of man, this is what the
Lord God says: These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is
constructed, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may
be splattered on it: You
are to give a bull from the herd as
a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are from the
offspring of Zadok, who approach me in order to serve me. This is the
declaration of the Lord God. You are to take some of its blood and
apply it to the four horns of the altar, the four corners of the ledge,
and all around the rim. In this way you will purify the altar and make atonement for it
(wakippartahu). Then
you are to take away the bull for
the sin offering, and it must be burned outside the sanctuary in
the place appointed for the temple. On the second day you are to present an unblemished male goat as a sin
offering. They will purify the altar just as they did with
the bull. When
you have finished the purification, you are to present a young, unblemished bull and
an unblemished ram from the flock. You
are to present them before the Lord; the priests will throw salt on
them and
sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord. You
will offer a goat for
a sin offering each day for seven days. A young bull and
a ram from the flock, both
unblemished, are also to be offered. For seven days the priests
are to make atonement (yakapparu) for the altar and cleanse it.
In this way they will consecrate it and
complete the days of purification. Then on the eighth day and
afterward, the
priests will offer your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the
altar, AND I WILL ACCEPT YOU. This is the
declaration of the Lord God.” Ezekiel 43:18-27 Christian Standard Bible
(CSB)
“This is the contribution you are to offer: Three
quarts from five bushels of wheat and three quarts from five
bushels of barley. The
quota of oil in liquid measures will be one percent of every cor. The
cor equals ten liquid measures or one standard larger capacity
measure, since ten liquid measures equal one standard larger capacity
measure. And
the quota from the flock is one animal out of every two hundred from the
well-watered pastures of Israel. These
are for the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings, to
make atonement (lakapper) for the people. This is the
declaration of the Lord God. All the people of the land must take
part in this contribution for the prince in Israel. Then
the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the festivals,
New Moons, and Sabbaths—for all the appointed times of the house of Israel—will
be the prince’s responsibility. He
will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and
fellowship offerings to make atonement (lakapper)on behalf of the house
of Israel. This is what the Lord God says: In the
first month, on the first day of the month, you are to take a young, unblemished bull and
purify the sanctuary. The
priest is to take some
of the blood from the sin offering and apply it to the
temple doorposts, the four corners of the altar’s ledge, and the doorposts of
the gate of the inner court. You
are to do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for everyone who sins
unintentionally or through ignorance. In this way you will make atonement (wakippartem) for
the temple.” Ezekiel 45:13-20 CSB
The Hebrew word translated as “make atonement” is kaphar, and has the
basic meaning of “to cover over, pacify, make propitiation” (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3722.htm).
In fact, not only does God make explicit reference to vicarious
sacrifices and offerings, he also refers to a covenant he will make with his
people that is predicated upon God’s making atonement for all their sins:
“I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know
that I am the Lord, so that when
I make atonement (bakappari) for all you have done, you will
remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth again because of your
disgrace. This is the declaration of the Lord God.” Ezekiel 16:62-63 CSB
Here is how v. 63 reads in various English translations:
“that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your
mouth again because of your shame, when
I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the
Lord God.” English Standard Version (ESV)
“Then you will remember, be ashamed, and you won’t open your
mouth anymore due to humiliation when
I will have made atonement for you for everything that you’ve done,’
declares the Lord God.” International Standard Version (ISV)
Then you will remember, be ashamed, and remain silent when I make atonement for all you
have done, declares the sovereign Lord.” New English
Translation (NET)
“Then, when
I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will
remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your
humiliation, declares the Sovereign Lord.” New International Version (NIV)
“‘that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your
mouth anymore because of your shame, when
I provide you an atonement for all you have done,’ says the
Lord God.” New King James Version (NKJV)
“That thou mayest remember, and be ashamed, and never open thy
mouth any more because of thy shame, when I have made kapporah (atonement, i.e., when I am pacified, appeased) toward thee
for all that thou hast done, saith Adonoi Hashem.” Orthodox Jerusalem Bible
(OJB)
“So that thou dost remember, And thou hast been ashamed, And
there is not to thee any more an opening of the mouth because of thy
shame, In My
receiving atonement for thee, For all that thou hast done, An
affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!” Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)
Note how this word is used all throughout the Hebrew Bible,
especially in the Torah of Moses:
“If a murder victim is found fallen in the open country of the
land that the Lord your God is about to give you to possess, and it is not
known who killed him, then
let your elders and judges go out and measure the distance from the dead body
to the neighboring cities. Then
the elders of the city nearest the body are to take a heifer that hasn’t been
put to work or hasn’t pulled a yoke and are
to lead the heifer to a flowing stream in a valley that has never been tilled
or planted. They are to break the heifer’s neck there. Then
the priests of the descendants of Levi are to step forward, because
the Lord your God chose them to serve and pronounce blessings in his
name. Every case of dispute and assault is to be subject to their ruling. All
the elders of the city nearest the dead body are to wash their hands over the
heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they are to make this
declaration: ‘Our hands didn’t shed this blood, nor were we witnesses to the
crime. Make atonement (kapper) for your people Israel,
whom you have redeemed, Lord, and don’t charge the blood of an innocent
man against them.’ Then the blood that has been shed will be atoned for (wanikkapper). This
is how you will remove the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must
do what is right in the sight of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 21:1-9 ISV
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the
blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement
(wakipper) for
His land and His people.” Deuteronomy 32:43 NKJV
“And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of
the second month. And the priests and the Levites were disgraced, so they
consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of
Yahweh. Then they stood at their positions according to custom, according
to the law of Moses the man of God. The
priests were sprinkling the blood from the hand of the Levites. For there were many
in the assembly who did not consecrate themselves, so the Levites were over the
killing of the Passover sacrifices for all who were not clean, to consecrate them to Yahweh.
For a majority of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and
Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves. But they ate the Passover sacrifice otherwise than prescribed, but
Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, ‘May
the good Yahweh make atonement (yakapper) unto everyone
whose heart is set to seek God, Yahweh the God of his
ancestors, though not according to the cleansing for the sanctuary.’ And
Yahweh listened to Hezekiah, and
he healed the people.” 2 Chronicles 30:15-20 Lexham English
Bible (LEB)
“Iniquities are stronger than me; as for our
transgressions, You
atone for them (takapparem).” Psalm 65:3 MEV
“Yet he was compassionate; he atoned (yakapper) for their iniquity and
did not destroy them. He often turned his anger aside and did not unleash all
his wrath.” Psalm 78:38 CSB
“Help us, O God of our salvation, For the glory of Your name;
And deliver us, and
provide atonement (wakapper) for our sins, For Your name’s
sake!” Psalm 79:9 NKJV
These passages repeatedly stress the fact that remissions of
sins and salvation are predicated upon God choosing to make atonement for his
people; otherwise, they would remain condemned in their transgressions.
In the next segment, I will show how the Lord Jesus and his
inspired emissaries are in complete agreement with this oft-repeated teaching
of the Hebrew Bible (https://answeringislamblog.wordpress.com/2019/09/29/wheres-the-blood-responding-to-another-muslim-ruse-pt-2/).
IHS
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