The Conflict Begins
Genesis 21:9 tells us, But Sarah saw the son mocking—the one Hagar
the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, showing that the conflict between
Ishmael and Isaac began soon after Isaac was weaned. The teenager Ishmael was
mocking the infant Isaac.
In Galatians 4:23, Paul tells us that Ishmael had been born “as a
result of the flesh.” while Isaac “was born through
promise.” We need to pay close attention to what the Bible teaches
us because if we do not, we will fail to understand the reason for the conflict
that has spanned thousands of years. Even though Ishmael had been born first,
he was not the child of promise and therefore Ishmael, though the firstborn,
was replaced by his younger half-brother Isaac as the heir. Things in the home
and the relations between the two children escalated to the point that Sarah
demanded that both Hagar and Ishmael be expelled permanently from Abraham's
family.
So
she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this
slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac!”
(Genesis 21:10).
The Bible tells us that God loved both Hagar and Ishmael and showed them
both compassion and mercy by promising her that her son would be the father of
twelve princes who would in turn become a great nation.
Early
in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s
shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. She left and wandered in the
Wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy
under one of the bushes and went and sat at a distance, about a bowshot away,
for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” While she sat at a distance,
she wept loudly. God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar
from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has
heard the boy crying from the place where he is. Get up, help the boy up, and
grasp his hand, for I will make him a great nation”
(Genesis 21:14-18).
Ishmael lived in the region of Hejaz, the region known today as the
Arabian Peninsula. His twelve patriarchal sons were associated with the peoples
known as Midianites, Edomites, Egyptians and Assyrians.
As
for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him
fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father twelve tribal leaders,
and I will make him into a great nation… These are the family records of
Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham.
These are the names of Ishmael’s sons; their names according to the family
records are Nebaioth, Ishmael’s firstborn, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma,
Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are Ishmael’s
sons, and these are their names by their settlements and encampments: twelve
leaders of their clans (Genesis 17:20; 25:12-16).
Ishmael became the father of the Arabs and the leader of the peoples of
the Middle East which today is made up entirely of Muslim countries and whose
religion, Islam, has spread all over the world.
God’s
Faithfulness to Ishmael
Abraham's and Sarah's act of disobedience led to the birth of Ishmael
who was later exiled from the family. God dealt fairly with Ishmael by
providing him a great kingdom of his own, though the great kingdom and the land
that he settled in was never enough. Ishmael and his descendants have always
resented and despised Isaac and his descendants because according to them, it
was they who were entitled to and were able to claim the full inheritance of
Abraham.
During Hagar’s first exile in Genesis 16, the Lord prophesied that
Ishmael would be a violent person who would be in constant conflict with his
brethren.
He
will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and
everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his
brothers (Genesis
16:12 NIV).
God’s prophetic words of Genesis 16:12 have been fulfilled in the millennia
of hatred and enmity between the Arabs and the Jews. The animosity and
resentment that the Arabs/Muslims have for the Jews has created a hatred that
cannot be compared to any other in human history. It is that hatred that has led to wars and
some of the worst atrocities in history. The land that God promised Abraham and
his descendants has been the source of the friction between the Arabs and the
Jews then and the Arabs/Muslims and Jews today.
For thousands of years Ishmael's descendants have been in a blood feud
with the descendants of Isaac, a feud that has led to horrific acts of violence
and injustice against the children of Israel.
Of all the racial problems and tensions that have existed throughout human
history, none can be compared to the problem that exists between the
Arabs/Muslims and Jews in terms of duration and intensity of animosity.
A
Contributing Cause for the Ongoing Crisis
A contributing cause for the ongoing feud between the Muslims and the
Jews is the fact that the Muslims continue to propagate the lie that the Jews
are guilty of changing and distorting the Scriptures so that they could
establish themselves as the heirs of Abraham's covenant blessings. However they
fail to explain why it is that the New Testament, which was written by
Christians who would have no reason to follow any such changes or distortions,
teaches that the promises were made specifically to Isaac and his descendants.
Islamic tradition teaches that Abraham had not two but eight sons who
were reared not in Hebron but in Mecca. They teach that it was Ishmael whom
Abraham was about to sacrifice on Mount Moriah when he was stopped by an angel.
According to the Koran, all the promises in the Abrahamic covenant, including
the Promised Land, have been passed down to the Muslims.
There are two problems that the Muslims are confronted with when they
make those claims: (1) both the Old and New Testaments clearly teach that the
promises in the Abrahamic covenant, including the title deed to the land of
Israel, were made to Isaac and his descendants, and (2) the promises God made
to Abraham in Genesis were made to him over two millennia before the establishment
of Islam.
Just read to the words in Genesis 17:19-21,
But
God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him
Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his
future offspring. As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him;
I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father twelve
tribal leaders, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will confirm my
covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”
God was faithful in keeping His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael.
In fact, God gave Ishmael and his descendants much more land than he gave
Isaac.
The sons of Ishmael were just as rebellious and contrary as he was.
Being part of a great nation was not enough for the Arabs then, as it is not
enough for the Muslims today. Their animosity and hatred of Isaac and his
descendants, the Jews, has been so since the very beginning. At the core of the issue is the fact that the
Arabs then, as the Muslims today, want what God gave the people of Israel. God
has blessed them greatly, but they have been unwilling to accept those
blessings nor live in peace with their half-brothers.
In great part this attitude of resentment and jealousy has caused them
to lose their way spiritually and their knowledge and understanding of the God
of Abraham has been distorted long before the Prophet Mohamed had come on the
scene in the seventh century.
All Scripture quotations, unless indicated, are taken from The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NIV have been taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2020 by Miguel J Gonzalez Th.D.
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