Last Wednesday we looked at The People and The Problem. I am sure you have discerned that "The People" are those described in the Bible as the People of God, the recipients of the promise God made to Abraham. The "Problem": we are working on an understanding of it. Our original study parameters were to include Israel and Palestinians but after the September 11 attack we expanded the study to include Islam in a broader concept.

Tonight, we are looking at The Preparation of the People. This will be approached from the standpoint of the people encompassed in the four sides of the Near East conflict including Israelis, Muslims, Christendom, and the Biblical. Much of the history of all four is deeply interwoven.

Keep in mind that when we have occasion to talk about Islam that it did not have a beginning until six hundred years after Christ was on earth. The teachings of Islam are not contemporary with the teachings of the Old Testament nor the New Testament. However, because Islam accepts in part the history of The People described in Genesis, for a clear understanding of the present day situation is it necessary to interject certain perceived ideas contained in the Qur’an and accepted by most Muslims today. You will learn about that to which I refer as we proceed.

God made promises to Abraham and his descendents in Genesis 12 and 15.

These promises included the possession of some land, land that today includes parts of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and all of what is known now as Israel including the occupied territory. This land was to be "taken" by the descendents of Abraham as a God given possession. We know they never "took" all of the land and eventually, because of disobedience, lost most of the land in the period of the divided kingdom following the reign of Solomon.

Because the scriptures frequently uses the term "descendents" as possessors of the Promised land, we must understand the various interpretations of that term as currently applied by a large number of people.

The Sign of God's Promise to Abraham
^{* 1} When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. ²And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." ³Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: ⁴"As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. (Plural) ⁵No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. ⁷And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. ⁸Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."

Abraham, now, is told he will be the father of many nations, many kings, and that he was given the land of Canaan for himself and his descendants as an everlasting possession. Israeli’s need look no further to believe that they by God’s decree own all the land of Canaan and that no other people have any right to the land.

We have to look more closely at this passage. In our doctrine we usually equate what is said with only the twelve tribes of Israel as being nations along with the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah and the united kingdom of David. However, some read the rest of the story and they—the Arabs, Muslims and other Semites—see that there are many other nations included who, to their way of thinking, opens the way to claim the land of Palestine.

According to the book Islam, Sixth Edition, by Caesar E. Farah, published by Barron’s as a part of their Compact Studies of World Religions, 2000, there are more than one billion people who adhere to the religion of Islam. They represent all the known races of mankind and they inhabit a nearly contiguous stretch of land from the shores of the Atlantic in the West to the confines of China and Malaysia in the East.

Geographically, the followers of Muhammad are concentrated in North Africa, the regions of the Near and Middle East, Soviet Central Asia, western China, the Malayan peninsula, northern and central India, Indonesia and the Philippines. They are gaining ground in the heart of Black Africa, in the United States and some South American countries.

"One out of every five human beings today subscribes to the faith of Islam; he lives within a social structure largely the product of Islam, and he is guided in his daily life by norms and precepts forged in the caldron of Islam." "On an average the Muslim invokes the name of Allah (God) no less than twenty times a day.

No other known prophet of a monotheistic religion receives as much mention in prayer as the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad. He has more children bear his name than any other name popular to mankind.

Islam’s growth may be attributed to both military conquest and the conduct of the conquerors and currently enjoys the political and spiritual rule of many national states such as Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, the United Arab Republic, the Kingdom of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and of particular interest to the United States, the oil producing nations of Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirate, Oman, and Yemen. There are autonomous Muslim republics in the Russian states, and strong enclaves of Muslims in China, Burma, Malaya, India, and the Philippines, Somalia, Chad, Tanzania, Niger, Nigeria and other West African states.

Islam did not start until the early 600’s A.D. It claims to be the religion with the last word from God, that word given to Muhammad, his prophet. It claims the blessings of God through Abraham and his first born son, Ishmael.

Ishmael was born to Hagar, (Gen. 16:11) just as God had promised. He grew up at his father's side as part of the covenant missionary family worshiping the one true God. When Ishmael was thirteen years old, God appeared to his father and gave to them the covenant of male circumcision. As members of one family, Ishmael and his father Abraham were circumcised on the same day. What is so striking today is that even though circumcision is not mentioned in the Qur’an, Muslims, following this early family pattern, circumcise all their male children.

Please turn to Gen. 17:15-21, as we continue the study.

When God appeared to Abraham on this occasion, Ishmael was one of the subjects of their conversation. God had said that Sarai, even in her old age, was going to have a son. Abraham's immediate response was, ". . . If only Ishmael might live before you or (under your blessing)" (Gen. 17:18)! Having long ago been willing for Hagar and her unborn son to be let go, it is now amazing to see that Abraham has developed a truly fatherly heart and asks God to bless Ishmael.

What is even more revealing of God's love is to hear His answer. It is a resounding "yes." After discussing the future role of Isaac in His covenant plan for blessing the human race, God takes up the matter of Ishmael again: "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation" (Gen. 17:20).

Of supreme importance here is God's affirmative answer to Abraham's prayer and these words, "I will surely bless him." The reason this statement is so noteworthy is that the majority of Christendom believes that God has cursed Ishmael, or at least bypassed him and that he is of no consequence. This is due in part to what Paul said in Galatians 4:21-31 where he uses Hagar and Sarah to illustrate the difference between the Old covenant and the New covenant. We assume God disliked Ishmael.

God is not like that, especially with Abraham's own son. He is to be blessed. Furthermore, he is going to become the father of twelve rulers, all part of a great nation. Insofar as this prophecy goes, we can sum it up by saying Ishmael will be blessed and multiplied into an ethnic family with twelve subdivisions.

The mysterious words that God will establish His covenant with Isaac are still paramount and the real reason for the story, but not to the exclusion of Ishmael from God's blessing. Isaac, like his father, is to be the agent of blessing for all nations, as will be his ultimate descendant, Jesus, in whom and through whom we finally see the nature and magnitude of that blessing.

So far we have several nations of peoples promised, all of whom are eventually, today, laying claim to the land of Canaan, the promised land.

In the mean while, two other nations are introduced in the Biblical record. You will remember the story of Lot and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. After the family fled Sodom, Lot’s daughters bemoaned the loss of husbands or husbands to be. The Bible relates the incest committed and the results in Gen. 19:36-38.

Lot is accepted by Islam as one of God’s prophets and blessed descendents. In the Qur’an, Surah 6:86-87, it says:

The kinfolk of Abraham’s descendants were also the Semite nations of Moab and Ammon; people who claimed the same land as Abraham’s descendants, people who are claimed as forefathers of some of today’s Arab nations. Hundreds of years later the Israelites when entering the promised land had to deal with these kinfolks along with several other strands from Abraham’s people.

God’s promise to Abraham about having a son with Sarah as fulfillment of the promise is recorded in Genesis 21:1-3.

In the same chapter, verses 8-21, we learn of the disposal of Ishmael and his mother. Most Muslims dismiss the point made by Sarah in verse 10 and hold up the statement in verse 18 in their belief that through Ishmael they are descendants of Abraham and thereby entitled to all the promises God made to Abraham concerning possessing the land of Palestine. God endorses Sarah’s statement in verse 12.

The promise God made to Abraham is reconfirmed and more specifically in Gen. 22:15-18. We read this, and our minds say "Isaac" for the whole passage. Muslims read it and their minds say "Ishmael", and "that includes us". Let’s read it and watch for the change in verse 17 from the singular "son" to the plural "descendants".

The only son here is Isaac, but to the Muslim, it is Ishmael. Ishmael is the one offered as a sacrifice according to the Qur’an and Islamic doctrine. He is not an only son spiritually, but actually, physically and therefore it is Ishmael.

Abraham was ten years older than Sarah and he was 100 years old when Isaac was born (Gen. 17:17). Sarah died when she was 127 years old (Gen. 23:1) and Abraham was 137 year old. However, after the death of Sarah Abraham was not through with providing ample descendants to populate the land. Between his age of 137 and the age at his death of 175 years old he was married to Keturah and added to his descendants. Look at Gen. 25:1-6.

This account of the six additional sons of Abraham lists some of the nations with whom Isaac’s descendants had to deal in order to possess the promised land. Particularly Midian and Jokshan. How would you feel if your father gave all of his immense possessions to your older brother and only gave you a few gifts, then sent you away from your family and home.

Notice they were sent "eastward", the area today occupied by Jordan, Syria, Iran and Iraq and then by Babylon and Assyria. All of these Semites consider themselves to have a claim on the land and their Arab descendants still do today.

The twins, Esau and Jacob, were born and there was difficulty between them. Isaac favored Esau, as firstborn and because he was a man of the field, and Rebekah favored Jacob. We are more familiar with the account of the deception of Jacob and his trip to get a wife and less with the other side of the story, that of Esau.

After the deception of Jacob and his mother, Isaac is ready to pronounce the blessing upon his firstborn son. But instead of Esau, it is Jacob who is standing before his father.

Esau had been out hunting to obtain meat for his father’s requested stew. When he returned he learned of the deception and the blessing so he immediately goes to his father.

Just to spite his father, Esau married Ishmael’s daughter. This establishes a double claim to the inheritance of the land in the eyes of many descendents. However, the blessing which God gave to Abraham begins to take on a real spiritual meaning as this blessing is passed, not to Esau the firstborn, but to Jacob the younger. It is this spiritual blessing which begins the more important role in the Promise God made to Abraham.

The promise is passed from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob. Jacob is the father of Israel—the twelve tribes of Israel. Israeli’s claim the land promised through this chain of descendents.

Thee is still another group of descendents to consider, those of the family of Esau. The list is found in Genesis 36 beginning with verse 1:

The Edomites were the enemies of Israel during a large period of the occupation of Canaan and their descendents are a part of Islam as claimed by some today. They are another source of the continuing conflict. If you will look at the table entitled Descendents of Abraham you will see a vast number of descendents produced in a relative short time. From a worldly viewpoint, they lay claim to the Promised Land.

Let me summarize.

For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him. (Gen. 18:19).

No one can underestimate the importance of Abraham to the three monotheistic faiths of the world and even to the world itself. Jesus Christ was called the "Son of David," the "Son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1). Jesus Himself said, ". . . Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56).

In the Qur’an in Surah 3:68 it says, "Without doubt, among men, the nearest of kin to Abraham, are those who follow him, as are also this Apostle [Muhammad] and those who believe [Muslims]: and God is the Protector of those who have faith [Muslims]". This is emphasizing physical kinship, not spiritual relationship.

God singled Abraham out to be the means of blessing to all people. The call of Abraham has profound implications for the whole human race. Everyone will either be blessed or cursed depending on how they relate to Abraham. What is so significant about him? Abraham said "yes" to God; "yes" to leave all and follow God; "yes" to God's plan to bless all peoples on earth through him; and "yes" to the idea of suffering "shame for that name."

God found a man with whom He could begin His plan to recover (bless) lost humankind; a man who would believe in Him, a man who would faithfully teach His children about the one true God, a man who would walk by faith and not according to the flesh, and, ultimately, a man through whom the Messiah of all people would come, Jesus of Nazareth.

God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants. He promised that through Abraham all nations of the earth would be blessed and that his descendants would be like the uncountable stars of the heaven. (Gen. 15:4,5).

God instructed Abraham to prepare a special sacrifice. God manifested Himself in the sacrifice thereby sealing His covenant of friendship with Abraham (Gen. 15:1-19). From this unusual ceremony, Abraham was given the name, "Friend of God." He is mentioned in Scripture as such and he is also known in Islam as Khalil Ullah, ("The Friend of God"). But unlike Jews and Christians, Muslims claim their identity with Abraham through Hagar and Ishmael rather than through Sarah and Isaac. This is the root of the alienation that exists between Christians and Muslims, both of whom claim to be the heirs of Abraham.

Let us look again at the actual words of God's promise to Abraham: ". . . a son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars, if indeed you can count them." Then He said to him, "So shall your offspring be" (Gen. 15:4,5). This gives rise to the question, "Is this promise of descendants to be taken racially or spiritually?" The answer is both.

God did give Abraham innumerable descendants and truly made him the "Father of Many Nations." But, if one believes the Bible is the Word of God, not everyone who can claim racial descent from Abraham is really an heir of Abraham in the spiritual sense.

Jesus acknowledged that the Jews of His day were racially descendants of Abraham, yet not really his children. ". . . If you were Abraham's children . . . then you would do the things Abraham did . . . You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. . ." (Jn. 8:37-44).

The touchstone is genuine faith in the one true God as represented by His Son Jesus Christ. Racial descent does not qualify anyone for spiritual identification with the family of Abraham.