New Moon 01/8/40/120

Dear Friends,

Today is the New Moon of the Eighth Month and again it is a back to back Sabbath. We enjoy these Sabbaths and one asks why the Jews corrupt the laws and Calendar of God so as to avoid such events.  The simple answer is it was because of their traditions.  That is the reason they were dispersed and the Temple was destroyed.  It is part of the Plan of God and outlined in the paper Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 013).

This New Moon we will study the paper Commentary on the Koran Surah 28 (Q028) and on Sabbath we will study Surah 29. Surah 28  Al-Qasas is called “the Story” or “the Narration”  from verse 25. It was revealed at the last phase of the persecution of the church at Mecca and at the time of the flight from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE.  Some Arabic writers even say that verse 85 was revealed during the flight and verses 52-55 were claimed to be revealed after the flight at Al-Madinah.  These texts are asserted to be edits. Verse 85 appears to be a later Hadithic edit to divert attention from the facts of the direction to Scripture from verses 52-55. Hence, the assertion of a later date to them, which appears spurious given the context.

The text concerns the trials of the life of Moses once again as we have seen from Surah 27 and those previously that relate to the story of Moses and his persecution following the story of the prophets and the elect and their place in the Resurrection. Here the Surah encouraged the church by reference to the Exodus and the intervention of God through the Angel of the Presence given Israel as his inheritance (Deut. 32:8ff.) This Angel of the Presence was later to become the Messiah (1Cor. 10:4).

It is important that we Bible Students understand the Scriptures and also the Koran and Scriptures from which it is taken.

I heard an Imam giving a message to Muslims in Cairo telling them of the 1973 war and the comments by Moshe Dayan regarding them.  Dayan was Minister for Defence in the 1973 war and was asked a question regarding the impending hostilities.  He answered to the effect that Egypt would attack and Israel would attack their airports and tie them up in the South and then attack Syria in the Golan and strike at their operations and facilities in Syria.  The Arabs attacked and Israel did exactly as Dayan said they would and when Dayan was asked why he made such open comments, he said:  “The Muslims do not read and as such no one would pay attention even if they did” or words to that effect.  The Imam said it was true and showed a glaring weakness with them.

We see the same weakness with both Islam and Binitarian and Trinitarian Christianity and those who espouse their supposed faiths.  They have no real idea of what their Bible and Koranic texts state and teach. Trinitarian Christianity and Hadithic Islam have allowed their religious leaders to totally corrupt the explanations and teachings of their texts, as have the Jews also. The end result is that the entire human systems of both Christianity and Islam are prevented from entering the Kingdom of God and their teachers, imams, sheiks. ministers or priests do not enter themselves and prevent all who listen to them from entering also. Surah 3:93 ties the food laws into the Muslim faith and Surah 4:154 ties the Covenant into the Sabbath.  The result is that no person who does not keep the Sabbath can be in the Kingdom of God and the First Resurrection. So also the Fourth Commandment is the origin or basis of the law being the Mark of the Covenant.  It is not our job to make anyone do anything.  Our task is to tell everyone what God wants and it is up to them to do it.

Wade Cox
Coordinator General