seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Quran 7:162. But the wicked among them substituted other words for the words given to them; so We sent down upon them a plague from the sky, because of their wrongdoing.
163. Ask them about the town by the sea, when they violated the Sabbath. When they observed the Sabbath, their fish would come to them abundantly. But when they violated the Sabbath, their fish would not come to them. Thus We tried them because they disobeyed.
164. And when a group of them said, “Why do you counsel a people whom God will annihilate, or punish with a severe punishment?” They said, “As an excuse to your Lord, and so that they may become righteous.”
165. Then, when they neglected what they were reminded of, We saved those who prohibited evil, and We seized those who did wrong with a terrible punishment, because of their sinfulness.
166. Then, when they rebelled against the commands to refrain, We said to them, “Be despicable apes.”
167. Your Lord has announced that, He would send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, those who would inflict terrible suffering upon them. Your Lord is swift in retribution, yet He is Forgiving and Merciful.
168. And We scattered them into communities on earth. Some of them righteous, and some of them short of that. And We tested them with fortunes and misfortunes, so that they may return.
169. They were succeeded by generations who inherited the Scripture and chose the materials of this world, saying, “We will be forgiven.” And should similar materials come their way, they would again seize them. Did they not make a covenant to uphold the Scripture, and to not say about God except the truth? Did they not study its contents? But the Home of the Hereafter is better for the cautious; will you not understand?
170. Those who adhere to the Scripture, and practice prayer—We will not waste the reward of the reformers.
171. And when We suspended the mountain over them, as if it was an umbrella, and they thought it would fall on them: “Hold fast to what We have given you, and remember what it contains, so that you may be saved.”
Here's the commentary.The city referred to here is generally recognized as being Ela, which was situated on the Red Sea. The incident alluded to is mentioned as an instance of the Jewish violation of the Sabbath. The fish appeared on the surface of the water on the Sabbath because they had a sense of security on that day. This was a temptation for the people to break the law.
First they commit a crime for the frail goods of this life, saying that they will be forgiven; then persist in their evil course and when a similar occasion arises, they again return to the old crimes. There is no repentance.
The stories built upon these simple words by some commentators must be rejected. The words simply relate the experience of the elders of Israel when they stood at the foot of the mountain, which rose above them. There was a severe earthquake, which is referred to in v. 155, causing them to think that the mountain would fall down upon them. According to LA, the primary significance of natq is za‘za‘, which means the moving, agitating, shaking, or putting a thing into a state of commotion. Thus the use of nataqnå instead of rafa‘nå (2:63) clearly explains that the mountain was shaken violently by an earthquake while the elders of Israel stood at its foot. Natq has also another meaning, viz. taking up from the roots, but this is not the significance here.
Despicable apes and mountains suspended like an umbrella..... and "we will be forgiven". According to these verses.... those despicable apes... the Israelites were all talk and no action. They claimed to be God's chosen, but they didn't follow the rules unless it was the rule they themselves made up. And the Christians.... those of us who Believe Jesus was more than a prophet..... we are always "forgiven" but we never stop having to be forgiven for the same sin!
I like the idea of the mountain being suspended over us like an umbrella. While Moses was up on the mountain.... and the elders were down at the foothills.... it was supposed to be a faithful, religious, experience. God was giving Moses the Commandments. An earthquake hit and those elders lost their faith.... is that why the gold was boiling in the cauldron? Did they make a calf to save them from the earthquake while God was giving them the rules? Is that what the story of the calf really says? Staying faithful for forty days and forty nights is asking a lot of a human... right?
Apparently, there was a huge fish kill on one Sabbath way back when. Fish were floating on the top of the water, just waiting to be swept up..... but it was the Sabbath and those descendants of Abraham and Isaac..... they had a law saying they could not exert the energy to go pick up a fish. God gave them a miracle and they wouldn't except it because it arrived on the wrong day of the week.... those "despicable apes"!
The Christians, on the other hand, have no problem at all with wading right in and filling bushel baskets. They are singing "we don't have to worry about working on the Sabbath..... we are forgiven". As a matter of fact, they don't mind opening their business on the Sabbath and requiring others to be there or lose their livelihood.
Boy our faith might be strong.... but we are a horrible example. Christians and Jews alike make up the people if Israel now. We claim to be chosen and forgiven while our cousins, the sons of Hagar and Keturah, are left to starve, or worse yet bombed out. Hey.... these are all brothers from another mother!
We claim to be good.... God Fearing People.... but our actions show us to be Despicable Apes who don't appreciate "being forgiven".
These verses are about the Israeli Transgressions.
