If Muhammad is God’s final prophet, then he MUST be predicted in the Bible (surah 7:157). In this post I will deal with Kedar and Sela in Isaiah 42:11. But in order to understand this verse properly, we have to study the context:

Sing to Yahweh a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants. Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that KEDAR inhabits; let the habitants of SELA sing for joy, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to Yahweh, and declare his praise in the coastlands. (42:10-12)

The text begins with ”Sing to Yahweh a new song”. Then it says that Sela will sing for joy, and Kedar will most likely do the same. Both will give glory to Yahweh, the God of Israel. Does this sound like a prophecy about Muhammad? No, definitely not! To sing to God’s glory is considered haram in Islam, and Yahweh is not even recognized as God’s name. So what’s going on in this passage? Isaiah 42 begins in the following way:

Behold, MY SERVANT, whom I (i.e. Yahweh) uphold; MY CHOSEN one in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit upon him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. (42:1)

The two expressions ”my servant” and ”my chosen” are primarily referring to the children of Israel (41:8; 44:1), but also to their promised Messiah (Matthew 12:18). Later in the same chapter, God promises that the Messiah will be a light for the nations (i.e. not only for the children of Israel):

I am Yahweh; I have called you (the Messiah) in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you pas a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. (6-7)

What the text is saying is actually happening today. The Messiah (Jesus) has become a light for the nations, reaching to Kedar and Sela. And all those who receive him ”sing to Yahweh a new song”. Jesus is leading them out of their spiritual darkness into God’s glorious light. So Isaiah 42 is a prediction of the coming of the Messiah and has nothing to do with Muhammad.