A Jewish Rabbi Challenges Whether Ancient History Supports The Biblical Account Of The Exodus And Why Blacks In America Should Be Interested In The Controversy (Part 7)

The storyline of the Bible – Old and New Testament, and that of the Holy Qur'an – revolves around the account of a particular people who have been lost from the true identity of themselves and the knowledge of God, and are therefore living a life that is inconsistent and incompatible with their nature. This people, though lost from God and the knowledge of themselves and their natural way of life, are under the influence and control of another group of people who are in rebellion to God, although the very top leadership of this ruling group are aware, to varying degrees, of the identity and existence of the God from whom the people they are ruling over, are lost. The chief rulers of the group that is in rebellion to God (but who rule the group that has lost its identity and original relationship to God) do in fact know God's identity and many secrets that the leadership of those who serve them are unaware of.

Very clearly, in the Old Testament, a unique experience is near the root of the relationship between the two groups of people and God. To be more specific, one group is made to serve the other for 400 years, in a strange land, that is not their own, and under the other group of people, who are also described as "strange", in different Bible translations. The arrival or coming of God is promised, in prophecies in the Torah, Gospel and Holy Qur'an to thoroughly reverse this arrangement. God, it is written, will take the people who were enslaved and make them His people and will guide them to the most preeminent position that any people have ever held. In relation to every other group of people, this particular people, who are described as God's "chosen" people will become the most powerful, ever.

It is written that the leaders of those in the strange land will resist the arrival of God, to their country. The top leader of that nation is described as stubbornly rejecting God's advice, and commands regarding the enslaved people and those over them. The top leader of the nation that "lords" over those who were slaves for 400 years refuses to obey God's command to release the enslaved people, that this particular people may serve Him. God wants to take them out of the country in which they were enslaved and place them into a land of their own.

God, referred to as Jehovah, in the Torah, primarily communicates His commands, advice and guidance to the rulers of the nation, which holds slaves, through two men. These two men are from the enslaved people. First, Jehovah reveals himself to one man from among the people who are slaves and then God sends another man to the first man. The second man is to help or aid the first man, in a unique way, in the work of communicating messages from God to not only the leaders of the nation where the slaves are held, but also in raising up and guiding the people who were slaves. These two men receive revelation and to a degree, share in God's power.

These two men work to unite the people who were enslaved and repair their damaged condition, which is a direct result of their experience as slaves. These two men are opposed, not only by the rulers of the nation that they are warning, but also by the very people that they have been assigned, by Jehovah, to save, repair, guide and redeem.

The enslaved people reject the leadership, in various forms, of these two men, largely out of fear as well as general ignorance. They are fearful of the consequences of rejecting and disobeying their former slave masters. They are ignorant of their identity; the identity of their slave masters and the identity of the God Who has come to save them.

In the Torah the names of these two men are Moses and Aaron. Eventually it is written that Moses and Aaron and those with them eventually overcome the power and influence of those who were their former slave masters. Eventually, they are set free by the rulers of the nation that enslaved them, after an impressive display of Jehovah's power. Part of that power display includes several plagues that Jehovah brings upon the nation that stubbornly seeks to keep the enslaved group under their control. Jehovah brings about most of these plagues at the hand of Moses and Aaron.

If this storyline was not fulfilled or did not take place 4,000 years ago as many are saying today, including Rabbi David Wolpe, why is it so hard to accept that the narrative and description of events, contained in scripture, is taking place or happening right now, in the United States of America, given the knowledge of several striking similarities between what is written in the scriptures and what is taking place today as well as what is contained in the recorded history of the United States?

And if it is happening, why are so many people unaware of the relation between the events taking place in their time and what is written in the scriptures? Why don't those in the media who report news events in the United States, make the connection between everyday happenings and the description of individuals and events written of in the scriptures? Is the lack of a connection of the daily coverage of individuals and events in the media and what is written in scripture unintentional? Or are there individuals who are in fact aware of the correspondence, but who work to keep the masses of people ignorant of such?

Please consider the following written by Minister Jabril Muhammad in his weekly column, Farrakhan The Traveler in the Volume 20 Number 48 edition of The Final Call newspaper:

"There are many people, subjects and events that profoundly affect the lives of billions of people. Such qualifies as "news." However, only some of these "news" items are selected for the public's attention. Others are ignored. Still others are totally or partly concealed. The effect of the weather (recently) on Texas is an example.

I, for one, don't know what will be reported as the leading news "stories," in the so-called "mainstream" media, about a month from now, when this issue of The Final Call appears (Allah willing). The vital issues in the news today, may not be the published news then.

Will any newsworthy events go unreported, by America's so-called mainstream media, by the time you read this article?

Yes!

What news that best serves the people? Shouldn't it take precedence over all other news? From whose perspective should it be written?

Bibles are preached, read and/or listened to by billions of people. It teaches of the resurrection of the dead and the judgment of this world. That's when God establishes His new world. He will come in Person to bring all of this about.

If this is that time, then the "news" should reflect this awesome fact. Does it? Yes, but indirectly and often with denial.

This "news" ought to be primary on everyone's mind. This should be central to discussions, in homes, schools, etc. God's arrival and His work, through His servants, should be on the tip of everyone's tongue.

Why, then, are there no talk shows about God's presence and the work that He is performing through His servants? There are no TV updates on God's activities, and that of His servants.

If Allah's foreknowledge of these times are written in the scriptures, and if the majority---especially the rulers---expect and love Him, why does this go largely unreported, and if/when reported, it's distorted?

The words of Allah, through the mouth of His prophets---that are being fulfilled everyday, ought to determine what the front-page news ought to be. Moreover, this ought to determine the perspective from which it should be written.

What was foretold to occur in these times? Where are they described in the scriptures that billions of people have? Who and what people would be the first to receive God's wisdom during these foretold times?

The answer to this question explains why the true news goes unreported, distorted or when reported, it's concealed altogether---and the true news providers are persecuted. The reaction of the wicked to His arrival is written in several places in the scriptures."

Next week we will look deeper into the scriptures and real "news" of the two men who are assigned, by God, to lead the former slaves to freedom...

Cedric Muhammad

Sunday, September 2, 2001