What BIBLE SAYS ABOUT PROPHET MUHAMMAD SAW

WHAT IS THE �NAME� OF GOD MENTIONED AT DEUTERONOMEY 18:19?

The following is an explanation of what is said about Deuteronomy 18:19 in the book �A Brief  Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam� on page 35 under the heading �A prophet like Moses� which reads:-

�Note that God has said in the prophecy of Deuteronomy: �If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.� (Deuteronomy, 18:19).   This means that however believes in the Bible must believe in what this  prophet say, and this prophet is Muhammad.

Is the conclusion that is stated in the last sentence correct?  It reads:-

�This means that however believes in the Bible must believe in what this prophet say, and this prophet is Muhammad.�

To find out we need to go back to what the Biblical text says, which is:-

�If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.�

This quote above is taken form the �New International Version� of the Bible.  The King James Version (1611) of Deuteronomy 18:19 reads:-

�And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.�

Which is very similar in wording and thought.   So what does this verse say?    It is God speaking about the prophet to come �like Moses�, this prophet is spoken of at Deuteronomy Ch. 18 verse 15 which reads first from the:-

New International Version

�The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.�

King James Version

�The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.�

We see again that in both versions of the Bible it reads much the same.   So let us look at what verse 19 of chapter 18 of Deuteronomy says, using the quoted verse from �A Brief  Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam� on page 35, which is from the �New International Version� of the Bible:-

�If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.�

This verse makes four points,  a) God�s words are to come,  b) via �the prophet�  c) �the prophet� is to speak in God�s �name�  d) if �the prophet� is �not� listened to, God will hold an accounting with those who do not listen, this last point is a warning from God that he will punish them!  What do the four points mean?

Points a, b, and d, are easy to understand, God will use his prophet to send his message to mankind explaining his will for them, which they will either obey and reap blessing from God, or disobey and suffer the consequences of their actions and God�s displeasure.

Point d, is interesting as it says �that the prophet speaks in my name.�  We should ask what is that �name,� as it is the �name� of the God of Moses, so to find what that �name� is we will look as something else Moses wrote.

In the King James Version of The Bible at Exodus 6:2-3 we read what Moses heard God say of himself:-

�And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:   And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.�

The �New International Version� of the Bible� renders the same verse as:-

�God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD.  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.�

Notice that the �New International Version� leave out the �name� �Jehovah� and substitutes the word �LORD� instead, why is this?   The introduction of the New International Version Study Bible on page xii it explains:-

�In regards to the divine name YHWH, commonly called the Tetragrammaton, the translators adopted the device used in most English versions of rendering that name as �LORD� in capital letters to distinguish it from Adonai, another Hebrew word rendered �lord� for which small letters are used.  Where ever the two names stand together in the Old Testament as a compound name of God, they are rendered �Sovereign LORD.��

Whereas the King James Version uses the divine �name,� instead of �LORD,� in one of the two places, were it appears in theses two verses.   The correctness of the King James Version using �Jehovah� is show proved by James Strong�s Hebrew Dictionary which states on �Jehovah�:-

"No.3069  vuvh  Yehovah, yeh-ho-vee�; from 1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God :- Jehovah,  the Lord. Comp. 3050, 3060."

Other Biblical texts where God�s name �JEHOVAH� can be found in the Kings James Version of the Bible are Psalm 83:18; Isaiah 12:2 and 26:4.  Further to the above is this comment by D.B.J. in his book �The Old Testament for Modern Readers�:-

�Of all the words for God Jehovah, �or Yahweh� is the only one which is a proper name�

So we see that the �New International Version� hides the fact that God has a �name� whereas the �King James Version of 1611� uses the �name� �Jehovah- thus showing that �the prophet� of Deuteronomy 18:15 would come in the �name� of �Jehovah.�  Muhammad did not do that, so how can he be the promised �prophet�?