Is God Everywhere and All-knowing or Not?

MUSLIMS claim that the Bible contradicts itself in regard to God’s omnipresence and omniscience.

They give two sets of verses to prove the “contradiction.”

These verses are Proverbs 15:3, Psalm 139:7-10 and Job 34:21-22. These, Muslims say, show that God is present everywhere and knows all.

The other set includes Genesis 3:8, 11:5 and 18:20-21, which they claim contradicts the first set.

The two sets do not contradict.

A. RESPONSE:

Proverbs 15:3; Ps 139:7-10; and Job 34:21-22 talk of the general truth that God is omnipresent and omniscient. He is everywhere and all-knowing.

Genesis 3:8, 11:5 and 18:20-21 do not deny God’s omniscience and omnipresence. They merely stress God’s PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT in the affairs of men.

Genesis 3:8 shows God personally walking in the garden to provide His visible presence to the first man and woman.

Genesis 11:5 shows how God personally felt offended by the effort of men to reach heaven and be like God. The same is true with Genesis 18:20-21.

So, there are no contradictions in the two sets of verses: The first set tells of the truth God is everywhere and is all-knowing. The second tells us that GOD HIMSELF gets INVOLVED in what we do.

The problem with Islam is that it has the belief that God cannot be personally involved in the affairs of men. This belief runs contrary to the revelations and actions of God in history.

In both Judaism and Christianity, which Muslims claim are related to Islam, God revealed Himself in a personal way and has directly involved Himself in their affairs.

But that issue aside and going back to the verses, the problem with Muslims is that they make claims about Biblical texts based on wrong appreciation and understanding of the verses.

Mark 10:18 (Jesus Denied that He is God?)

MUSLIMS who deny the divinity of the Lord Jesus sometimes use Mark 10:18 to prove that Christ denied that He was God.

The verse reads:

“Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”

The context of the verse is about a man who knelt before the Lord Jesus and then says to the Christ: "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Mark 10:17)

Muslims see the response of the Lord Jesus in Mark 10:18 as a rebuke or a contradiction to what the man said. To them, the Lord was saying, “I am not God, so don’t call me good.”

But did the Lord Jesus really rebuke the man for calling Him “Good”?

A. CHRISTIAN RESPONSE

THE words of the Lord Jesus in Mark 10:18 were neither a rebuke nor a contradiction to the man addressing Him with a term pertaining only to God.

A rebuke would have sounded like “DO NOT call me good. Only God is good” or “I am not good. Only God is good” or “Only God is good. I am not God.”

The Lord did not make such a clear, undeniable rebuke. What He did was ASK A QUESTION.

Often, questions are asked to raise clarifications or to challenge others to prove that they are sure of what they are saying or talking about.

When the Lord Jesus told the man “Why do you call me good? Only God is good”, He was telling the man, “You called me good. Only God is good. Are you acknowledging that I am God?”

The answer of the man to the question whether he was acknowledging the divinity of the Lord Jesus was important, especially if we read the answer of the Lord Jesus to his question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

In Mark 10:19, the Lord said, “You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'"

Those were commandments given by God Himself to Moses. (Exodus 20:1-17) And to the mind of the man, he already fulfilled those commandments (Mark 10:20), thus he was already entitled to eternal life.

But then, the Lord Jesus did not stop there. He continued: “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

Mark 10:22 says that when the man heard those words, “he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.”

“But why?” we might ask. Why should the man grieve at what the Lord Jesus said and especially because those were not part of the original commandments? One might even argue that since those were only the words of Jesus, it would not really matter? What was important was the man had obeyed the commandments of God.

Could the words of a “teacher”or a prophet or a ”servant” of God overrule the very commandments of God? Of course not!

The man was shocked and grieved because he did not see the Lord Jesus only as a simple “teacher” or “prophet,”but as the “Good Teacher.” “Good” meaning God as the Lord Jesus had pointed out.

The man believed that the Lord Jesus was God and that He had the authority to give “additional”commandments or to demand more on top of the commandments that He had already given.

So, when the Lord Jesus gave the “additional” commandment for the man to “go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor” (Mark 10:21), the man became sad because it was GOD who was telling him to do it.

Therefore, Mark 10:18 is not a denial of the divinity of the Lord Jesus. On the contrary, it is an affirmation of His Godhood.

Muslims, in their desire to disprove that the Lord Jesus is God, are seeing the opposite of what things really are.

Matthew 10:34 (Jesus: Not Peace but a Sword)

SOME MUSLIMS try to defame the Lord Jesus by giving a wrong interpretation of Matthew 10:34.

The verse reads: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."

Using that, some Muslims say that the Lord Jesus was not a peace maker but a warrior. They claim He does not bring unity but division.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

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QUICK RESPONSE:
 A. Simply put, Muslims do not understand or deliberately distort Matthew 10:34.

When the Lord Jesus said that He did not come to bring peace, He was referring to the expectation of the Jews who were waiting for a political messiah.

The Jews were waiting for a messiah who would restore the kingdom of Israel and bring peace to the land. (Luke 24:21; Acts 1:6) It was a political peace. No more wars. No more disputes.

That was the context when the Lord Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth."

His goal was not to bring political peace but "a sword" or a SEPARATION of those who would believe in Him and those who wouldn't.

That point is shown in the succeeding verses:

Matthew 10:35-39
"For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's foes will be members of one's own household.

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

"Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."

That TRUTH or FULFILLMENT of the Lord's words has been happening since the time He said them. People have become divided along the line of those who believe in the Lord Jesus and those who do not.

Muslims not accepting the lordship and Godhead of the Lord Jesus is one good example of that. Their insistence that He is not God has SEPARATED them from Christians.

So, the words of the Lord are clearly proven here. It is only unfortunate the Muslims cannot or refuse to see that.