Is Resting Being One of God’s Traits?
In the Old Testament, in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 2, Verse 2, the following is written:
"By the seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing so on the seventh day he rested from all his work."
All are in agreement; God, His Prophet and all of God's wise creatures know that the word "rest" implies getting tired. This trait is a characteristic of the mortal creatures, existing and depending on God. God is the Creator, existing by Himself. Nothing tires Him, whether large or small; and if God wanted to do anything, he would say, "Be", and it would be. So, it is not wise to give this characteristic to Almighty God, otherwise, He would be the same as His creatures—needful, and in order to carry out jobs, he would require tools and machinery and would have to work and use energy. Almighty God is the Creator. It is not smart to say that He rested on the seventh day, as in the Old Testament.
Another point that we should mention is that it is impossible for the Almighty Lord to tire, or for His state to change because if God were to change, it would suggest that in some way He is in fact incomplete, imperfect.
Therefore, if you believe in the Perfection of God, prove to yourself that the rest is wrong, that this section of the Old Testament contradicts God's Holiness. God the
Omnipotent, the Omniscient, has no need for rest. To rest is the trait of a creature that is weak and we must not doubt that a thing that contradicts God's Holiness cannot be a statement from God Himself. This, therefore, cannot be Inspiration.
The Old Testament is Ignorant about Geography
In Genesis 2:10-14, we have this account:
10. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden, and from there it divided; it had four headstreams.
11. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)
13. The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.
14. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates."
It is obvious for anyone who knows some geography that there is no city of Eden except in Yemen on Boghas Bab Al Mandeb. Yemen is south of Saudi Arabia; the Euphrates and the Hiddekel Rivers are in Iraq, and from their Delta they pour into the Persian Gulf. The Tigris rises in the Armenian mountains in Eastern Turkey and flows southeast through Baghdad and joins the Euphrates in southeast Iraq. The Euphrates also rises in East Turkey, flowing south across Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris, forming the Shatt-al-Arab, which flows to the head of the Persian Gulf. So where is that in relation to Eden?
The rivers Pison and Gihon, however, are to be found in China. How could this be God's Gospel?
The Old Testament Forbids Adam from Eating from the Tree of Good and Evil
In Genesis 2:16 we read:
"And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die."
Because Adam did not, in fact, die after eating from the tree after God had warned him, "you will surely die," is to accuse God of lying. This is impossible. God does not lie and to suggest such a thing is an insult to God's Holiness. How can they say that their Book is a Holy Book, a Gospel in view of this?
Another point is that God forbade Adam from eating what would give him knowledge of good and evil. This, too, is unthinkable. God did not create his creatures except to show them good and evil. It is for this reason that God sent His Prophets to warn us and to tell us of the rewards of doing good over evil. So how could it be that God forbade Adam from eating what would give him knowledge of good and evil? This would contradict the reason for Creation.
Some people may suggest that "spiritual death" is implied, but this argument is unfounded. In the Old Testament, it is written that Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame. If they were feeling shame, then we can deny “spiritual death", therefore "die" must mean in the physical sense.
How God has been Described in the Old Testament
It does not take much to see that God's Holiness has been ridiculed in the Old Testament. It is so far from reality. With much sorrow, this is what we see.
- Before the Creation of the World, God's spirit was moving on the surface of the water. (Genesis 1:2)
"Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."
- God became tired from Creating and rested. (Genesis 2:2)
"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing so, on the seventh day he rested from all his work."
- God created man in his own image. (Genesis 1:27)
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
"When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God."
"Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man."
- God of the Old Testament is a body and can be seen. See Exodus 24:9-11:
"Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand
against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank."
- God in the Old Testament wrestles with his Prophet Jacob and is beaten. (Genesis 32:24-28)
"So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak. But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The man asked, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
- God walks in Adam's garden and cannot see Adam as he is hiding behind a tree. Also, God cheats and lies. (Genesis 3:1-24)
3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat:
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth
children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
20 And the man called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21 And Jehovah God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and clothed them.
22 And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever—
23 therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
- God feels sorrow. (Genesis 6:6)
"The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain."
- God confuses the language of the people. (Genesis 11:1-9)
"If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
- God doubts the message He is receiving. (Genesis 18:20)
"Then the Lord said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not I will know."
- The Lord speaks evil. (Kings I 22:22)
"I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets, he said. "You will succeed in luring him," said the Lord. "Go and do it." "So now the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you."
These are some of the characteristics that the Old Testament gives to Almighty God; characteristics, which even the lowest of God’s Creatures, do not have. This is the Biblical description of God—lies and untruths. Surely Moses did not teach people this about their Lord; he led people to the Truth, not to lies and evil.
One of the most amazing things is that the Old Testament makes God out to be a liar and the snake to be an honest creature. Any wise man can see that when God said to Adam and Eve that they would "surely die" if they ate from the forbidden tree, and the snake told them otherwise; the fact that they did not die after disobeying God proves the snake right. This cannot be Gospel.
In the Holy Quran, a Surah (no. 112) reads:
In the Name of God, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful
1. Say He, God, is one (alone),
2. God, the Needless (Indivisible, Uni-One),
3. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten,
4. And there is none like unto Him."
This is how God is described in the Holy Quran.
Now let us see how the Holy Bible describes Him in our next chapter.