Understanding & Receiving the Gift of Life from Isa al Masih

We examined the final week of the prophet Isa al Masih PBUH.  The Injil records that he was crucified on Day 6 – Good Friday, and he was raised back to life the following Sunday.  This was foreseen both in the Taurat and the Psalms and Prophets.  But why did this happen and what does it mean for you and me today?   Here we seek to understand what is offered by the Prophet Isa al Masih, and how we can receive mercy and forgiveness.  This will help us even understand Ibrahim’s ransom described in Surah As-Saffat (Surah 37), Surah al Fatihah (Surah 1 – The Opener) when it asks Allah to ‘show us the Straight Way’, as well as understanding why ‘Muslim’ means ‘one who submits’, and why religious observances like wudu, zakat and eating halal are good intentions but insufficient in themselves for the Day of Judgment.

Bad News – what the Prophets say of our relationship with Allah

The Taurat teaches that when Allah created mankind He

So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

“Image” is not meant in a physical sense, but rather that we were made to reflect Him in the way we functioned emotionally, mentally, socially and spiritually.  We were created to be in relationship with Him.  We can visualize this relationship in the slide below.  The Creator, as infinite ruler, is placed at the top while man and woman are placed at the bottom of the slide since we are finite creatures.  The relationship is shown by the connecting arrow.

Created in His image, people were made to be in relationship with the Creator
Created in His image, people were made to be in relationship with the Creator

Allah is perfect in character – He is Holy.  Because of this the Zabur says

For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
    with you, evil people are not welcome.
5 The arrogant cannot stand
    in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong (Psalm 5: 4-5)

Adam committed one act of disobedience – only one- and the Holiness of God required Him to judge.  The Taurat and Qur’an record that Allah made him mortal and expelled him His presence.  The same situation exists for us.  When we sin or disobey in any way we dishonor Allah since we do not act according to the image that we were made in.  Our relationship is broken.  This results in a barrier as solid as a rock wall that comes between us and our Creator.

Our sins create a barrier between us and Holy God
Our sins create a solid barrier between us and Holy God

Piercing Sin’s barrier by Religious Merit

Many of us try to pierce this barrier between us and Allah by religious deeds or works that earn enough merit to break the barrier.  Prayers, fasting, Hajj, going to mosque, zakat, alms to charity are the ways we seek to earn merit to pierce the barrier as illustrated next.  The hope is that religious merit will cancel out some sin.  If our many deeds earn enough merit we hope to cancel all our sins and receive mercy and forgiveness.

We try to pierce this barrier by doing good deeds to earn merit before Allah
We try to pierce this barrier by doing good deeds to earn merit before Allah

But how much merit do we need to cancel sin?  What is our assurance that our meritorious deeds will be sufficient to cancel the sin and pierce the barrier that has come between us and our Creator?  Do we know if our efforts for good intentions will be sufficient? We have no assurance and so we try to do as much as we can and hope it will be sufficient on Judgment Day.

Along with deeds to gain merit, efforts for good intentions, many of us work hard to stay clean.  We diligently perform wudu before prayers.  We work hard to stay away from people, objects and food that make us unclean.  But the prophet Isaiah revealed that:

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

The prophet tells us that even if we avoid everything that make us unclean, our sins will make our ‘righteous acts’ as useless as ‘filthy rags’ in making us clean.  That is bad news.  But it gets worse.

Worse News: the power of Sin and Death

The Prophet Musa PBUH clearly set the standard in the Law that total obedience was required.  The law never said something like “attempt to follow most of the commands”.  In fact the Law stated time and again that the only work that assured payment for sin was death.   We saw in the time of Nouh PBUH and even with the wife of Lut PBUH that death resulted from sin.

The Injil summarizes this truth in the following way:

For the wages of sin is death… (Romans 6:23)

“Death” literally means ‘separation’.  When our soul separates from our body we die physically.  Similarly we are even now separated from God spiritually and are dead and unclean in His sight.

This reveals the problem of our hope in earning merit to pay for sin.  The problem is that our hard efforts, merits, good intentions, and deeds, though not wrong, are insufficient because the payment required (the ‘wages’) for our sins is ‘death’.  Only death will pierce this wall because it satisfies God’s justice.  Our efforts to gain merit are like trying to cure cancer (which results in death) by eating halal food.  Eating halal is not bad, it is good – and one should eat halal – but it will not cure cancer.  For cancer you need a totally different treatment that puts the cancerous cells to death.

So even in our efforts and good intentions to generate religious merit we are actually dead and unclean as a corpse in the sight of our Creator

Our sin results in death - We are like unclean dead bodies before Allah
Our sin results in death – We are like unclean dead bodies before Allah

Ibrahim – showing the Straight Path

It was different with the Prophet Ibrahim PBUH.  He was ‘credited righteousness’, not because of his merit but because he believed and trusted the promise to him.  He trusted Allah to meet the payment required, rather than earning it himself.  We saw in his great sacrifice that death (the payment for sin) was paid, but not by his son but instead by a lamb provided by God.

Ibrahim was revealed the Way - He simply trusted God's Promise and God Provided the payment
Ibrahim was shown the Straight Path- He simply trusted God’s Promise and God Provided the payment of death for sin

The Quran speaks of this in Surah As-Saffat (Surah 37 – Those who set the Ranks) where it says:

And we ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice. And we left (the blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times.  “Peace and salutation to Ibrahim” (Surah As-Saffat 37:107-109)

Allah ‘ransomed’ (paid the price) and Ibrahim received the blessing, mercy and forgiveness, which included ‘peace’.

Good News: The work of Isa al Masih on our behalf

The example of the prophet is there to show us the Straight Path in accordance with the request of Surah Al-Fatihah (Surah 1 – The Opening):

Sovereign of the Day of Recompense.
It is You we worship and You we ask for help.
Guide us to the straight path –
The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray. (Surah al-Fatihah 1:4-7)

The Injil explains that this was an illustration to show how Allah would pay for sin and provide a cure for death and uncleanness in a simple but powerful way.

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23)

Up until now, it has all been ‘bad news’.  But ‘injil’ literally means ‘good news’ and in declaring that the sacrifice of Isa’s death is sufficient to pierce this barrier between us and God we can see why it is good news as shown.

The sacrifice of Isa al Masih - the lamb of God - makes the payment for sin on our behalf
The sacrifice of Isa al Masih – the lamb of God – makes the payment by death for sin on our behalf just like Ibrahim’s lamb had done.

The prophet Isa al Masih was sacrificed and then rose from the dead as firstfruits so he now offers us his new life.  We need no longer remain prisoners of sin’s death.

The resurrection of Isa al Masih was 'firstfruits'. We are freed from death and receive the same resurrection life.
The resurrection of Isa al Masih was ‘firstfruits’. We can be freed from death and receive the same resurrection life.

In his sacrifice and resurrection Isa al Masih became the gate through the barrier of sin that separates us from God.  This is why the prophet said:

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:9-10)

Isa al Masih is thus a Gate that breaks through the barrier of sin and death
Isa al Masih is thus the Gate that breaks through the barrier of sin and death

Because of this gate, we now can re-gain the relationship we had with our Creator before our sin became a barrier and we can be assured of receiving mercy and the forgiveness of our sins.

With an open Gate we now are restored in Relationship with our Creator
With an open Gate we now are restored in Relationship with our Creator

As the Injil declares:

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.  (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

The Gift of God to you

The prophet ‘gave himself’ for ‘all people‘.  So this must include you as well as me.  Through his death and resurrection he has paid the price to be a ‘mediator’ and offers us life.  How is this life given?

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23)

Notice how it is given to us.  It is offered as a … ‘gift’.  Think about gifts.  No matter what the gift is, if it is really a gift it is something that you do not work for and do not earn by merit.  If you earned it the gift would no longer be a gift – it would be a wage!  In the same way you cannot merit or earn the sacrifice of Isa al Masih.  It is given to you as a gift.  It is that simple.

And what is the gift?  It is ‘eternal life’.  That means that the sin which brought you and me death is now paid up.  God loves you and me that much.  It is that powerful.

So how do you and I obtain eternal life?  Again, think of gifts.  If someone wants to give you a gift you must ‘receive’ it.  Anytime a gift is offered there are only two alternatives.  Either the gift is refused (“No thank you”) or it is received (“Thank you for your gift.  I will take it”).  So also this gift must be received.  It cannot just be mentally believed in, studied or understood.  To be of benefit, any gift offered to you must be ‘received’.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God (John 1:12-13)

In fact, the Injil says of God that

God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved … (1 Timothy 2:3-4)

He is a Saviour and His desire is that ‘all people’ receive his gift and be saved from sin and death.  If this is His will, then to receive his gift would simply be submitting to His will – the very meaning of the word ‘Muslim’ – one who submits.
So how do we receive this gift?  The Injil says that

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:12)

Notice that this promise is for ‘everyone’.  Since he rose from the dead Isa al Masih is alive even now.  So if you call on him he will hear and give his gift to you.  You call out to him and ask him.  Perhaps you have never done this.  Below is a guide that can help you. It is not a magic chant.  It is not the specific words that give power.  It is the trust like Ibrahim had that we place in Isa al Masih to give us this gift.  As we trust him He will hear us and answer.  The Injil is powerful, and yet also so simple.  Feel free to follow this guide if you find it helpful.

Dear Prophet and Lord Isa al Masih.  I understand that with my sins I am separated from Allah my Creator.  Though I can try hard, my efforts do not pierce this barrier.  But I understand that your death was a sacrifice to wash away all my sins and make me clean.  I know that you rose from the dead after your sacrifice so I believe that your sacrifice was sufficient and so I submit to you.  I ask you to please cleanse me from my sins and mediate with my Creator so I can have eternal life.  Thank you, Isa the Masih, for doing all this for me and would you even now continue to guide me in my life so I can follow you as my Lord.

In the name of Allah, Most Merciful

How did the Psalms and Prophets prophesy of Isa al Masih?

The Taurat of Prophet Musa PBUH revealed foreknowledge of Isa al Masih PBUH through Signs which were patterned to the coming of the Prophet.  The Prophets which followed Musa showed Allah’s plan with oracles.  Dawud PBUH, inspired by God, first prophesied of the coming ‘Masih’ in Psalm 2 about 1000 BC.  Then in Psalm 22 he wrote an oracle about someone whose hands and feet are ‘pierced’ in tortures, then ‘laid in the dust of death’ but afterwards achieving a great victory that would impact all ‘the families of earth’.  Was this a prophecy of the coming crucifixion and resurrection of Isa al Masih?  We take a look here, including what Surah Saba (Surah 34) and Surah An-Naml (Surah 27) tell us about how Allah inspired David in the Zabur (i.e. Psalm 22).

Prophecy of Psalm 22

You can read the entire Psalm 22 here. Below is a table with Psalm 22 side-by-side with the description of the crucifixion of Isa al Masih as witnessed by his disciples (companions) in the Injil.  The texts are color matched so the similarities are easily noted.

Crucifixion details from the Injil Psalm 22 – written 1000 BC
(Matthew 27: 31-48) ..Then they led him (Jesus) away to crucify him…. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “… save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him,…About the ninth hour Jesus cried…“My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” …48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink.Mark 15: 16-2016 The soldiers led Jesus away… They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him…37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.(JOHN 19:34) they did not break his legs..., pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.…they crucified him… (JOHN 20:25) [Thomas] unless I see the nail marks in his hands ,…”…JOHN 20:23-24 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining…Let’s not tear it”, they said,”Let’s decide by lot who gets it”… 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest…7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
“let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.

The Injil is written from the perspective of eye-witnesses who watched the crucifixion.  But Psalm 22 is written from the perspective of someone experiencing it.  How to explain this similarity between Psalm 22 and the crucifixion of Isa al Masih? Is it coincidence that the details match so exactly as to include that the clothes would both be divided (seamed clothes were split along the seams and passed among the soldiers) AND have cast lots (the seamless garment would be ruined if torn apart so they threw dice for it).  Psalm 22 was written before crucifixion was invented but it describes its specific details (piercing of hands and feet, bones being out of joint – by being stretched as the victim hangs). In addition, the Gospel of John states that blood and water flowed out when the spear was thrust in Jesus’ side, indicating a fluid buildup in the cavity of the heart.  Isa al Masih thus died of a heart attack.  This matches the Psalm 22 description of ‘my heart has turned to wax’. The Hebrew word in Psalm 22 which is translated ‘pierced’ literally means ‘like a lion’. In other words, the hands and feet were mutilated and mauled as by a lion when they were pierced.

Unbelievers reply that the similarity of Psalm 22 with the eye-witness recording in the Injil is perhaps because the disciples of Isa made up the events to ‘fit’ the prophecy.  Could that explain the similarity?

Psalm 22 and the legacy of Isa al Masih

But Psalm 22 does not end with verse 18 in the table above – it continues on. Note here how triumphant it is at the end –after the death!

26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him— may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,

28 for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive.

30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.

31 They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn— for he has done it. (Psalm 22: 26-31)

This is not talking about details of this person’s death. That was dealt with in the beginning of the Psalm. The prophet Dawud PBUH is now looking further into the future and addressing the impact of this person’s death on ‘posterity’ and ‘future generations’ (v.30). That is us living 2000 years after Isa al Masih.  Dawud tells us that ‘posterity’ which follows this man with ‘pierced hands and feet’, who died such a horrible death will ‘serve’ him and be ‘told about him’.  Verse 27 foretells the extent – it will go to the ‘ends of the earth’ and among ‘all families of nations’ and cause them to ‘turn to the LORD’. Verse 29 indicates how ‘those who cannot keep themselves alive’ (all of us) will one day kneel before him. The righteousness of this man will be proclaimed to people who were not yet alive (the ‘yet unborn’) at the time of his death.

This ending has nothing to do with whether the Injil was made up to fit Psalm 22 because it is now dealing with much later events – those of our time. The writers of the Injil, in the 1st century, could not make up the impact of the death of Isa al Masih into our time.  The rationalizing of the unbelievers does not explain the long-term, world-wide legacy of Isa al Masih that Psalm 22 correctly predicted 3000 years ago.

Quran – David’s foreknowledge given by Allah

This victorious praise at the end of Psalm 22 is exactly what Surah Saba (Surah 34 – Sheba) and Surah An-Naml (Surah 27 – The Ant) mean when they says of David’s inspired Psalms that:

We bestowed Grace aforetime on David from ourselves: “O ye Mountains! Sing ye back the Praises of Allah with him! and ye birds (also)! And We made the iron soft for him (Surah Saba 34:10)

We gave (in the past) knowledge to David and Solomon: And they both said: “Praise be to Allah, Who has favoured us above many of his servants who believe!” (Surah An-Naml 27:15)

As it says, Allah gave David the knowledge and grace to foresee the future and with that knowledge he sang the praises recorded in Psalm 22.

Now consider the question posed in Surah al-Waqi’ah (Surah 56 –The Inevitable).

Then why do ye not (intervene) when (the soul of the dying man) reaches the throat,- And ye the while (sit) looking on,-But We are nearer to him than ye, and yet see not,- Then why do ye not,- If you are exempt from (future) account,- Call back the soul, if ye are true (in the claim of independence)? (Surah al-Waqi’ah 56:83-87)

Who can call back the soul from death?  This challenge is given to separate man’s work from Allah’s work.  Yet Surah al-Waqi’ah is exactly what Psalm 22 describes – and it does so by foretelling or prophesying the work of Isa al Masih PBUH.

One could not make a better prediction of the effect of the crucifixion of Isa al Masih than Psalm 22 does.  Who else in world history can claim that details of his death as well as the legacy of his life into the distant future would be predicted 1000 years before he lived?  Since no human can predict the far future in such detail this is evidence that Isa al Masih’s sacrifice was by “God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge“.

The other Prophets foretell the sacrifice of Isa al Masih

Just as the Taurat began with a mirror image of the events of the last days of Isa al Masih and then made the image clearer with further details, the prophets that followed Dawud clarified further details of the death and resurrection of Isa al Masih.  The table below summarizes some of those we have looked at.

The Prophets Speak  How it revealed the plan of the coming Masih 
The Sign of the Virgin Birth  ‘A son will be born from a virgin’ predicted the Prophet Isaiah in 700 BC and he will live perfectly without sin.  Only a perfect life could be offered in sacrifice for another.  Isa al Masih, born in fulfillment of that prophecy, lived that perfect life 
The coming ‘Branch’ prophesied the name of Isa and the removal of our sin  The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah gave a series of prophecies of a coming one whom Zechariah correctly named as Isa – 500 years before Isa lived.  Zechariah prophesied that in ‘one day’ the sins of the people would be removed.  Isa offered himself as the sacrifice and so in exactly ‘one day’ sins were atoned for, fulfilling all these prophecies.  
The Prophet Daniel and the time of coming of the Masih  Daniel prophesied an exact 480-year timetable for the coming of the Masih.  Isa arrived exactly according to the schedule of the prophecy.
The Prophet Daniel prophesied the Masih will be ‘cut off’  After the arrival of the Masih, the prophet Daniel wrote that he would be ‘cut off and have nothing’.  This was a prophecy of the coming death of Isa al Masih as he was ‘cut off’ from life. 
The Prophet Isaiah predicts the death & resurrection of the coming Servant  The Prophet Isaiah predicted in great detail how the Masih would be ‘cut off from the land of the living’ including torture, being rejected, ‘pierced’ for our sins, led like a lamb to the slaughter, his life being an offering for sin, but afterwards he would again see ‘life’ and be victorious.  All these detailed predictions were fulfilled when Isa al Masih was crucified and then rose from death.  That such details could be predicted 700 years beforehand is a great Sign that this was Allah’s plan. 
The Prophet Yunus and the death of Isa al Masih  The Prophet Yunus experienced the grave when inside the great fish.  This was a picture that Isa al Masih used to explain that in a similar way he also would experience death. 
The Prophet Zechariah & the freeing of the prisoners of death  Isa al Masih refers to a prophecy of Zechariah that he would free ‘prisoners of death’ (those already dead).  His mission to enter death and free those trapped there was foretold by the prophets. 

With these many prophecies, from prophets who themselves were separated by hundreds of years, living in diverse countries, having different backgrounds, yet all focused on predicting some part of the great victory of Isa al Masih through his death and resurrection – this is evidence that this was according to Allah’s plan.  For this reason, Peter, the leader of the disciples of Isa al Masih, said to his listeners:

But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things.  (Acts 3:18)

Right after Peter said this, he then declared:

Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.  (Acts 3: 19)

There is a promise of blessing for us that we can have our sins ‘wiped away’.  We look at what this means here.

How did the Taurat of Musa prophesy about Isa al Masih?

The Injil declares that the crucifixion and resurrection of the Prophet Isa al Masih PBUH was central to Allah’s plan.  Exactly 50 days after the resurrection of the Prophet, Peter, the leader amongst his companions, publicly made this declaration about Isa al Masih:

“This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”  (Acts 2:23-24)

After Peter’s message, thousands believed and the message was embraced by multitudes around the world of that day – all without any compulsion.  The reason for the widespread acceptance were the writings of the Taurat and prophets of Zabur that had been written down hundreds of years previously.  The people examined these scriptures to see if they did indeed foretell the coming, the death and the resurrection of Isa al Masih.  These same unchanged scriptures are available today so we can also investigate the death and resurrection of Isa al Masih, and if it was according to “God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge” as Peter declared.  Here we summarize some of what the first hearers of the Injil observed from the Taurat, going back as far as Adam and the six-day creation, as they

“…examined the scriptures every day …” (Acts 17: 11)

They examined the scriptures carefully because the message from the apostles was strange and new to them.  We are prejudiced to reject messages that are new and strange to our ears.  We all do this.  But if  this message was from Allah, and they rejected it, the warning of Surah al-Ghashiyah (Surah 88 – The Overwhelming) would come upon them.

But if any turn away and reject God,-

God will punish him with a mighty Punishment,

For to Us will be their return;

Then it will be for Us to call them to account. (Surah al-Ghashiyah 88: 23-26)

They knew that the sure way to determine if this unfamiliar message was from God or not was to test the message against the writings of the prophets.  This would keep them safe from the penalty of rejecting a message from God.  We are wise to follow their example and so will examine the scriptures to see if the message of the death and resurrection of the Prophet Isa al Masih PBUH was foreordained in the previous writings.  We begin with the Taurat.

Allah’s foreknowledge revealed from beginning of Taurat and in Quran

From the first page of the Taurat we can see that days of Isa al Masih PBUH and his sacrifice were foreknown by Allah.   Of all the Holy Books (Taurat, Zabur, Injil & Qur’an) there are only two weeks where the events of each consecutive day of the week are narrated.  The first such week is the account of how Allah created everything in six days recorded in the first two chapter of the Taurat.  Notice how the Quran emphasizes the six days of Creation:

Your Guardian-Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and is firmly established on the throne (of authority): He draweth the night as a veil o’er the day, each seeking the other in rapid succession: He created the sun, the moon, and the stars, (all) governed by laws under His command. Is it not His to create and to govern? Blessed be Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds! (Surah Al-Araf 7:54)

He who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six days and then established Himself above the Throne – the Most Merciful, so ask about Him one well informed.(Surah Al-Furqan 25:59)

It is Allah who created the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them in six days; then He established Himself above the Throne. You have not besides Him any protector or any intercessor; so will you not be reminded? (Surah As-Sajdah 32:4)

And We did certainly create the heavens and earth and what is between them in six days, and there touched Us no weariness.(Surah Qaf 50:38)

It is He who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself above the Throne. He knows what penetrates into the earth and what emerges from it and what descends from the heaven and what ascends therein; and He is with you wherever you are. And Allah, of what you do, is Seeing. (Surah Al-Hadid 57:4)

The only other week with daily events recorded is the last week of the Prophet Isa al Masih.  No other prophet, whether Ibrahim, Musa, Dawud, and Muhammad PBUT have daily activities narrated for one complete week.  The complete creation week account at the opening of the Taurat is given here.  We have gone through the daily events in Isa al Masih’s last week.  This table places each day of these two weeks side-by-side for comparison.

Day of the week

Creation Week

Isa al Masih’s last week
Day 1 There is darkness and Allah says, ‘Let there be light’ and it was.  There is light in the darkness The Masih enters Jerusalem and says “I have come into the world as a light…” There is light in the darkness
Day 2 Allah separates the earth from the heavens Isa separates things of earth from that of heaven by cleansing the Temple as a place of prayer
Day 3  Allah speaks and land rises out of the sea.    Isa speaks of faith that can move mountains into the sea. 
Allah speaks again ‘Let the land produce plants’ and it was so.  Isa speaks and the fig tree plant withers in the ground. 
Day 4  Allah speaks ‘Let there be lights in the sky’ and the sun, moon and stars come into being lighting the sky.  Isa speaks of the sign of his return to earth – the sun, moon and stars will grow dark. 
Day 5  Allah creates all the flying animals, including the flying dinosaur reptiles = dragons  Shaytan, the great dragon, descends into Judas to strike the Masih 
Day 6  Allah speaks and land animals come alive.  Passover lamb animals are slaughtered in the Temple. 
‘the Lord God … breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life’.  Adam started breathing “With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.” (Mark 15: 37) 
Allah places Adam in the Garden  Isa chooses freely to enter the Garden of Gethsemene 
Adam is warned away from the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil with a curse. Isa is nailed to a tree and cursed.  (When Christ was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Galatians 3:13)
No animal is found to be suitable for Adam. Another person was necessary The sacrifice of Passover animals in the end were not suitable.  A person was required.

(It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
    but a body you prepared for me” Hebrews 10: 4-5)
Allah puts Adam into a deep sleep  Isa enters the sleep of death 
Allah makes a wound in Adam’s side with which he creates Eve – Adam’s bride  A wound is made in Isa’s side.  From his sacrifice Isa wins a bride – those who belong to him.   

(“I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb” – Revelation 21:9) 
Day 7  Allah rests from work.  The day is declared Holy  Isa al Masih rests in death 

Each day’s events for these two weeks are like mirror images of each other.  They have symmetry.  At the end of both of these weeks, first fruits of new life is ready to burst forth and multiply.  Adam and Isa al Masih are reverse images of each other.  The Quran says of Isa al Masih and Adam:

Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created Him from dust; then He said to him, “Be,” and he was. (Surah Al-Imran 3:59)

The Injil says of Adam that

… Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. (Romans 5:14)

and

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15: 21-22)

By comparing these two weeks we can see that Adam was indeed a reverse pattern of Isa al Masih.  Did Allah need to take seven days to create the universe?  Could he not have done it with one command?  Why then did he create in the manner that he did?  Why did Allah rest on the seventh day when He was not tired? He did all in the manner and order that He did so that the final activities of Isa al Masih could be anticipated in the daily acts of the Creation week.  This is especially true of Day 6.  We can see pattern even in the choice of words.  For example, instead of simply saying ‘Isa al Masih died’ the Injil says he ‘breathed his last’, a direct reverse pattern in the words themselves to Adam who received the ‘breath of life’.  Such a pattern from the start of time speaks of ‘foreknowledge’, just as Peter stated after the resurrection of Isa al Masih.

Subsequent Illustrations in the Taurat

The Taurat then records specific events and establishes rituals that serve as illustrations or pictures that point to the coming sacrifice of the Prophet Isa al Masih.  These were given to help us understand the foreknowledge of Allah’s plan.  In our journey through the Taurat we have looked at some of these milestones.  The table below summarizes them, with links to these great Signs that were recorded over a thousand years before the Prophet Is al Masih.

Sign from Taurat  How it reveals the plan of the coming sacrifice of Isa al Masih 
Sign of Adam  When Allah confronted Adam after his disobedience He spoke of a single male offspring who would come (only) from a woman (thus a virgin birth).  This offspring would crush Shaytan but would himself be struck in the process. 
Sign of Qabil & Habil  A sacrifice of death was required.  Qabil sacrificed vegetables (which have no soul) but Habil offered the life of an animal.  This was accepted by Allah.  This illustrated the plan for the sacrifice of Isa al Masih. 
Sign of Ibrahim’s sacrifice  The picture gains more detail as the location where the Prophet Ibrahim sacrificed his son was the same location where thousands of years later the Prophet Isa al Masih would be sacrificed, and the Prophet Ibrahim spoke of that future sacrifice.  The son was to die but at the last moment the lamb substituted so the son could live.  This pictured how Isa al Masih the ‘Lamb of God’ would sacrifice himself so we could live. 
Sign of the Passover of Musa  Further details of God’s plan are revealed when the lambs are sacrificed on a specific day – Passover.  Pharaoh of Egypt, who did not sacrifice a lamb experienced death.  But the Israelites who sacrificed a lamb escaped death.  Hundreds of years later Isa al Masih was sacrificed on this exact same day in the calendar – Passover. 
Sign of the sacrifice of Harun  Harun institutes specific ritual sacrifices of animals.  The Israelites who sinned could offer sacrifices to atone for their sin.  But sacrificial death was required.  Only Priests could offer sacrifices on behalf of the people.  This anticipated Isa al Masih in his role as Priest who would give his life in sacrifice for us.  

Because the Taurat of the Prophet Musa PBUH so clearly pointed to the coming of the Prophet Isa al Masih it says of the Law:

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. (Hebrews 10:1)

And Isa al Masih warned those who did not believe his mission:  

I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” (John 5: 43-47)

Isa al Masih also said to his followers to help them understand his mission

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” (Luke 24: 44)

The prophet clearly said that not only the Taurat, but the writings of the ‘Prophets and the Psalms’ also were about him.  We look at this here. Whereas the Taurat used events that were illustrations of his coming, these later prophets wrote directly of his coming death and resurrection with oracles.

Here we understand how to receive the gift of eternal life offered to us by the Prophet Isa al Masih.

Day 7 – Sabbath Rest

The Prophet Isa al Masih had been betrayed and crucified on the Jewish holy day of Passover, now known as Good Friday.  Passover began Thursday evening at sundown and ended on Friday sundown – day 6 of the week.  The last event of that day was the burial of the dead prophet.  The Injil records how the women who followed the prophet witnessed this.

The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. (Luke 23: 55-56)

The women wanted prepare the body of the prophet but time had run out and the Sabbath began at sundown Friday evening.  This was the 7th day of the week and Jews were not permitted to work on this day.  This command went back to the creation account in the Taurat.  Allah had created everything in 6 days.  The Taurat stated:

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Genesis 2:1-2)

So the women, though they wanted to prepare his body, were obedient to the Taurat and rested.

But the chief priests continued their work on the sabbath.  The Injil records their meetings with the governor.

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.  (Matthew 27: 62-66)

So that Sabbath day saw the chief priests working to secure a guard around the body in the tomb.  The body of the Prophet Isa al Masih PBUH rested in death while the women rested in obedience on that Sabbath day of the Holy week.  The Timeline shows how their rest that day mirrored the 7th day of Creation where the Taurat says that Allah rested from Creation.

The Sabbath rest of Death for the Prophet Isa al Masih
The Sabbath rest of Death for the Prophet Isa al Masih

But this was just the quiet rest before the display of power.  Surah al-Fajr (Surah 89 – The Dawn) reminds us how important the Dawn after a dark night can be.  The break of Day can reveal strange things for ‘those who understand’.

By the break of Day

By the Nights twice five;

By the even and odd (contrasted);

And by the Night when it passeth away;-

Is there (not) in these an adjuration (or evidence) for those who understand? (Surah al-Fajr 89:1-5)

We see what the day break of the next Day reveals.