In this post I will be refuting some additional Muslim claims in support of their belief that Muhammad is prophesied in the Holy Bible.
I will be focusing on the assertions that Paran is another name for Mecca and that God’s promise to make Ishmael a great nation must mean making his descendants great religiously and spiritually through Muhammad.
THE ISRAELITES GO TO MECCA?
Some Muslims argue that the wilderness of Paran where Ishmael settled,
“He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.” Genesis 21:21
Refers to the region of Arabia, particularly Mecca. They further assert that Moses announced that God’s law would be revealed there:
“This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death. He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from his mountain slopes.” Deuteronomy 33:1-2
The problem with this claim is that Paran is nowhere near Mecca, just as the following references attest:
(peace of caverns), a desert or wilderness, bounded on the north by Palestine, on the east by the valley of Arabah, on the south by the desert of Sinai, and on the west by the wilderness of Etham, which separated it from the Gulf of Suez and Egypt. The first notice of Paran is in connection with the invasion of the confederate kings. ( Genesis 14:6 ) The detailed itinerary of the children of Israel in ( Numbers 33:1 ) … does not mention Paran because it was the name of a wide region; but the many stations in Paran are recorded, chs. 17-36. and probably all the eighteen stations were mentioned between Hazeroth and Kadesh were in Paran. Through this very wide wilderness, from pasture to pasture as do modern Arab tribes, the Israelites wandered in irregular lines of march. This region through which the Israelites journeyed so long is now called by the name it has borne for ages –Bedu et-Tih , “the wilderness of wandering.” (“Bible Geography,” Whitney.) “Mount” Paran occurs only in two poetic passages, ( 33:2 ); Habb 3:3 It probably denotes the northwestern member of the Sinaitic mountain group which lies adjacent to the Wady Teiran . (It is probably the ridge or series of ridges lying on the northeastern part of the desert of Paran, not far from Kadesh. –ED.) (Smith’s Bible Dictionary)
(burnt up). Although this word appears in the Authorized Version in its original shape only in ( Joshua 18:18 ) yet in the Hebrew text it is of frequent occurrence. It indicates more particularly the deep-sunken valley or trench which forms the most striking among the many striking natural features of Palestine, and which extends with great uniformity of formation from the slopes of Hermon to the Elanitic Gulf (Gulf of Akabah) of the Red Sea; the most remarkable depression known to exist on the surface of the globe. Through the northern portion of this extraordinary fissure the Jordan rushes through the lakes of Huleh and Gennesaret down its tortuous course to the deep chasm of the Dead Sea. This portion, about 150 miles in length, is known amongst the Arabs by the name of el-Ghor. The southern boundary of the (Ghor is the wall of cliffs which crosses the valley about 10 miles south of the Dead Sea. From their summits, southward to the Gulf of Akabah, the valley changes its name, or, it would be more accurate to say, retains old name of Wady el-Arabah. (Ibid.; bold emphasis mine)
Paran (פָּארָן, paran). The region of wilderness south of Israel and west of Edom (Gen 21:21; Num 10:12; 12:16; 13:26; Deut 1:1; 1 Sam 25:1). Paran and Kadesh are often listed in parallel. For example, in Num 13:26 the Israelite spies return to “Paran, at Kadesh” (ESV). Deuteronomy 1:1 contrasts with Deut 1:2 by alternately using Paran and Kadesh, which suggests that the two names refer to the same location. (John D. Barry et al., eds., “Paran,” The Lexham Bible Dictionary, Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016)
Arabah (עֲרָבָה, aravah; “desert,” “wasteland,” or “barren area”; modern “Aravah” or “Arava”). An arid desert valley that runs from the south end of the Sea of Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba, the northern tip of the Red Sea. The Arabah Valley is roughly 6 miles wide and 200 miles long. In modern usage, the term “Arabah” typically indicates the valley’s 100-mile stretch between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. (R. L. Drouhard, “Arabah,” The Lexham Bible Dictionary; bold emphasis mine)
In fact, if the Muslims were to be consistent then they would have to argue that Moses and the Israelites spent a portion of their 40-year wilderness wandering in Mecca!
Paran (Hb pa’ran, most frequently the name of a desert region). The place name Elparan (Gn 14:6) no doubt is associated with the desert; this place is thought to be identical with Elath* by some scholars. The desert of Paran was the home of the Ishmaelites (Gn 21:21). It was, the itinerary according to P (cf. PENTATEUCH), reached by the Israelites after the desert of Sinai (Nm 10:12), and they camped in this desert for some time (Nm 10:12; 13:3, 26, mission and return of the scouts). In Dt 1:1 Paran is vaguely defined as a place in the desert. Hadad of Edom passed through the desert of Paran on his journey from Midian* to Egypt (1 Kings 11:18). The mountains of Paran are the place from which the theophany* appears (Dt 33:2; Hab. 3:3); like most other names mentioned in the theophanies, Paran reflects the region S of Judah. The desert of Paran is probably that region of the Negeb* which lies S of Kadesh-barnea*. (John L. McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible, p. 637; bold emphasis mine)
abounding in foliage, or abounding in caverns, ( Genesis 21:21 ), a desert tract forming the north-eastern division of the peninsula of Sinai, lying between the ‘Arabah on the east and the wilderness of Shur on the west. It is intersected in a north-western direction by the Wady el-‘Arish. It bears the modern name of Badiet et-Tih, i.e., “the desert of the wanderings.” This district, through which the children of Israel wandered, lay three days’ march from Sinai ( Numbers 10:12 Numbers 10:33 ). From Kadesh, in this wilderness, spies (q.v.) were sent to spy the land ( Numbers 13:3 Numbers 13:26 ). Here, long afterwards, David found refuge from Saul ( 1 Samuel 25:1 1 Samuel 25:4 ). (Easton’s Bible Dictionary)
Now compare the above with the following OT passages:
“In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.” Genesis 14:5-7
“On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony. Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran. They set out, this first time, at the LORD’s command through Moses.” Numbers 10:11-13
“So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back. After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.” Numbers 12:15-16
“The LORD said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.’ So at the LORD’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.” Numbers 13:1-3
“At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account: ‘We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.'” Numbers 13:25-27
“These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the desert east of the Jordan—that is, in the Arabah—opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)” Deuteronomy 1:1-2
In light of the foregoing, do Muslims seriously want Christians to believe that Moses and the Israelites traveled from Sinai all the way to Mecca and back during their 40-year desert sojourning?
Continuing further:
“Now Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and mourned for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David got up and went down to the wilderness of Paran.” 1 Samuel 25:1
Are we to assume that David went to Mecca after Samuel’s death?
“But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. They set out from Midian and went to Paran. Then taking men from Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food. Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage.” 1 Kings 11:17-19
“God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth.” Habakkuk 3:3
Interestingly, the preceding passages connect Mount Paran with Seir and Teman. Both Seir and Teman are associated with Edom. Here is McKenzie regarding the locations of Seir and Teman:
Seir (Hb se’ir), a geographical name; Seir is associated with Esau* and Edom* and the association is expressed in a play on the words se’ar, “goat,” and sa’ir, “hairy,” in Gn 25:25; 27:11, 23. The name appears as the designation of a land, of a mountain, and as a gentilic. There is no doubt that the mountain is the chain which extends SW of the Dead Sea along the W side of the Arabah*, rising to an average height of 5000 ft. The name was later extended to the corresponding mountain chain on the E side of the Arabah. As a territorial designation the term is used more loosely of the region adjacent to the mountain chain, substantially identical with the territory of Edom … Israelite tradition itself recognized that the claim of Edom to Seir and its settlement there were older than its own claim to Canaan. It was the region of Esau the brother of Jacob … The mountain becomes a loose designation of its inhabitants as “the men of Seir or Mt Seir” (2 Ch 20:10, 22f; 25:11, 14); these must be the Edomites … (McKenzie, pp. 783-784; bold emphasis mine)
Teman (Hb teman, “the south”), a place name; a region of Edom (Je 49:7; Ezk 25:13; Am 1:12; Ob 9) mentioned with Dedan* (Ezk 25:13), famous for its wise men (Je 49:7), the place from which Yahweh appears (Hab 3:3; mentioned with Mt Paran*); genealogically reckoned a descendant of Esau and a son of Eliphaz (Gn 36:11, 15, 42; 1 Ch 1:36, 53). The situation is unknown except that it must be in the territory of Edom. Very frequently in the OT teman is used to signify simply “south” as a point of direction. (McKenzie, p. 872; bold emphasis mine)
J. Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, p. 897, states:
TEMAN.- A tribe (district) of Edom.
In light of this, it is little wonder that Hadad of Edom passed through Paran enroute to Egypt. It makes no sense for Hadad to travel from Edom to Mecca in order to get to Egypt.
Furthermore, there is no evidence apart from the later Muslim traditions that Ishmael ever married a Jurhumite woman since the Holy Bible indicates that he married an Egyptian. The Holy Bible also tells us where Ishmael’s sons settled:
“This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.” Genesis 25:12-18
McKenzie locates Shur around the area of Palestine and Egypt:
Shur (Hb sur), a geographical name which designates the slopes of Palestine and E of Egypt and N of the deserts of the Sinai peninsula. The Hb word suggests sur, “wall”, and some geographers have thought that the name alludes to the line of fortresses constructed by the Egyptians to protect the E frontier of Egypt. The region is the scene of the flight of Hagar* in the account of J (Gn 16:7). Abraham dwelt for a time in the Negeb* between Kadesh* and Shur (Gn 20:1). The Israelites traversed the desert of Shur after crossing the Sea of Reeds (Ex 15:22). The area from Havilah* to Shur was the home of the Amalekites* and other nomad tribes (Gn 25:18; 1 S 15:7; 27:8). (McKenzie, pp. 810-811; bold emphasis mine)
This conclusively demonstrates that neither Ishmael nor his twelve sons settled in Mecca, nor is Paran another name for Mecca!
10,000 JIHADIS?
Muslims also believe that the reference to God coming with 10,000 of his holy ones in Deut. 33:2,
“And he said, Jehovah came from Sinai, And rose from Seir unto them; He shined forth from mount Paran, And he came from the ten thousands (meribbot) of holy ones: At his right hand was a fiery law for them.”
Is actually referring to the conquest of Mecca where Muhammad entered into the city with 10,000 of his jihadis according to the Islamic sources.
There are at least two problems with this assertion.
First, the verse doesn’t say ten thousand but rather ten thousandS!
The expression meribbot, which comes from rebabah, is often employed elsewhere in relation God’s heavenly host, I.e., to the company of God’s angels that surround God’s throne and who often accompany the Lord when he descends to the earth to accomplish a particular task:
“With mighty chariotry, twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands (ribbotayim alpe shinan), the Lord came from Sinai into the holy place. Thou didst ascend the high mount, leading captives in thy train, and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.” Psalm 68:17-18
“As I looked, Judgment before the Ancient One thrones were placed and one that was ancient of days took his seat; his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; a thousand thousands (elep alpayim alpin) served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand (waribbo rabbawan ribban) stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9-10
Therefore, the ten thousands of holy ones are not Muslim Jihadis but God’s angelic entourage who descended with YHWH during the Exodus to accompany Moses and the Israelites.
The New Testament provides further corroboration for this point since it attests that God came down with his myriads of angels who stand before him in heaven to transmit the Law through Moses:
“you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” Acts 7:53
“Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained by angels through an intermediary.” Galatians 3:19
“For if the message declared by angels was valid and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him,” Hebrews 2:2-3
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24
“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’” Revelation 5:11-12
The second problem is that according to the Muslim sources, Muhammad did not enter Mecca with ten thousand soldiers, but with twelve thousand!
“I note that according to the statements of ‘Urwa, al-Zuhri and Musa b. ‘Uqba, the total number of the 2 armies with which he faced Hawazin was 14,000 SINCE HE HAD BROUGHT 12,000 TO MECCA, IN THEIR VIEW, and 2,000 of the al-tulaqa had been joined to these.” (Ibn Kathir, The Life of the Prophet Muhammad: Al-Sira Al-Nabawiyya, translated by Professor Trevor Le Gassick, Reviewed by Dr. Muneer Fareed [Garnet Publishing Court, 8 Southern Court, South Street Reading, RGI 4QS 2000], Volume III, p. 440; capital emphasis mine)
And:
“‘Urwa b. al-Zbayr stated, ‘He had 12,000 men with him.’ Al-Zuhri and Musa b. ‘Uqba said the same…” (Ibid., p. 386)
BECOMING A GREAT NATION
According to Genesis, God promised to make Ishmael a great nation (Cf. Genesis 16:10; 17:18-20; 21:13). The Muslims argue that part of being a great nation includes receiving God’s commandments (Cf. Exodus 32:9-10; Deuteronomy 4:5-8; Genesis 18:18-19; Quran 2:132-133; 16:123). As such, this means that God would make Ishmael’s offspring great by raising up for them a prophet, namely, Muhammad.
The Muslims have erroneously assumed that being a great nation necessarily includes receiving revelation from God. Even though it is true that part of what made Israel a great nation was the receiving of God’s law, there is nothing in the phrase itself which warrants such a conclusion.
Note how both the term “great” and the phrase “great nation” are used throughout the OT:
“Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.” Genesis 10:12
“Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.’” Deuteronomy 1:28
“(The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim.” Deuteronomy 2:10
“It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there – but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim – a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place,” Deuteronomy 2:20-21
“driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day,” Deuteronomy 4:38
“Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’” Deuteronomy 9:1-2
“then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.” Deuteronomy 11:23
“For the LORD has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day.” Joshua 23:9
“Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, a people is coming from the north country, a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.’” Jeremiah 6:22
“For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.” Jeremiah 50:9
“Behold, a people is coming from the north, And a great nation and many kings Will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.” Jeremiah 50:41
“And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” Jonah 4:11 – Cf. 1:2, 3:2-3
The preceding examples show that the greatness of these nations and cities had nothing to do with receiving the laws and testimonies of God. In fact, many of them were heathens who worshiped false gods!
In light of the foregoing, we now turn our attention to the passages in question to see what exactly made Ishmael a great nation:
“And God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, ‘Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’ And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before you!’ God said, ‘No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant WITH HIM as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father TWELVE PRINCES, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.’” Genesis 17:15-21
“Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Genesis 21:8-13, 18
According to these passages, Ishmael becoming a great nation did not include the covenant promises!
God specifically says that his covenant was with Isaac and that Abraham’s offspring would be reckoned through Isaac’s line, not Ishmael. Ishmael’s greatness would be based on God granting him twelve sons who would become rulers, forming a great nation. Genesis records that God fulfilled his promise to Ishmael during the latter’s own lifetime:
“These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, TWELVE PRINCES according to their tribes. (These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.” Genesis 25:12-18
The God-breathed Scriptures show how God reaffirmed his covenant with Isaac and Jacob, making their seed as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sand of the earth:
“And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. So she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.’ And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, ‘Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, DO AS SHE TELLS YOU, for THROUGH ISAAC shall your offspring be named. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.’” Genesis 21:8-13
“Abraham gave ALL HE HAD to Isaac. But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.” Genesis 25:5-6
“Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the LORD appeared to him and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you AND TO YOUR OFFSPRING I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN and will give to YOUR OFFSPRING all these lands. And IN YOUR OFFSPRING all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.’” Genesis 26:1-5
“Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, ‘I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to YOUR OFFSPRING. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and IN YOU and YOUR OFFSPRING shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.’ And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’” Genesis 28:10-17
“And he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the LORD said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.’” Exodus 3:6-8
“See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them … The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN.” Deuteronomy 1:8, 10
“And because he loved your fathers and chose their OFFSPRING after them and brought YOU out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for AN INHERITANCE, as it is this day, know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” Deuteronomy 4:37-39
“Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous AS THE STARS AS HEAVEN.” Deuteronomy 10:22
“But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person.” 2 Samuel 17:11
“Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy.” 1 Kings 4:20
“And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan. You multiplied their children AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness.” Nehemiah 9:22-25
The aforementioned passages emphatically prove that all the nations would be blessed in the seed of Isaac and Jacob, not Ishmael!
In light of the above, God’s promise to make Ishmael a great nation has nothing to do with either the covenant promises or Muhammad.
FURTHER READING
IS MUHAMMAD IN THE BIBLE? HAMZA YUSUF EXPOSED
Answering Islam Blog 
One thought on “MUHAMMAD IN THE BIBLE REVISITED”