Where did the nation of Israel begin?
It
all began in Genesis 12:1-3, God promised Abram (later to be called
“Abraham”) a great nation. “Abraham” means “father of many nations.”
“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get
thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto
a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in
thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
God promised that Abraham’s descendants would inherit and OWN the land.
“And
the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land…”
(Genesis 12:7).
“And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.” (Genesis 15:7).
Israel will one day own everything from the Euphrates River of Syria to the Nile River of Africa. This doesn’t make Arabs too happy when they hear this, but it is true. It is Israel’s sin that has caused them to lose control of their rightful land. Even today, it is very difficult to find a born-again Jew. They follow Judaism and think they are automatically going to heaven. This is not true. God is no respecter of persons; Jew or gentile, all must trust Jesus.
“Except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:6)
God has given the land of
Palestine to Abraham's seed.
“In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:” (Genesis 15:18).
Which seed?
Jews and Arabs are BOTH descendants of
Abraham! The problems between the
Jews and Arabs arise over who are the rightful descendants of promise.
The Arabs are descendants of Ishmael, the son of Hagar, the Egyptian
handmaid; The Israelites are the descendants of Isaac, the son of Sarah.
God had promised Abraham and Sarah a son when Abraham was 75 years old,
Sarah 65.
“…Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.” (Genesis 12:4)
Eleven years later, Sarah had still not
conceived; had God lied? Think
about this! “Abraham” means
“father of many nations.” After
11 years of anticipation, Abraham and Sarah were frustrated.
Where was the child they were promised?
Can you imagine how people laughed and made fun of Abraham’s name
because he had NO children? God had promised Abraham and Sarah a son.
How was Abraham to father a great nation without a son?
Sarah, in frustration, decided to take the matter into her own hands.
She gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. Hagar
gave birth to a son, Ishmael.
“And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.” (Genesis 16:16).
After 86 long years, Abraham was
finally a father; but Sarah was still not a mother.
God still had not kept his promise to Sarah.
God had made his promise to Abraham and Sarah.
“And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.” (Genesis 17:19-21)
Notice from the verse we just read that “Isaac” is the son of promise, not Ishmael. God has promised to bless the Arab nations (and He surely has, just look who owns all the oil). However, the everlasting covenant is with Israel, the descendants of Isaac. This is what the Bible teaches folks! Israel rightfully owns everything from the Euphrates River of Syria to the Nile River of Africa.
Finally, after 25 years of waiting, Sarah gives birth to Isaac (the son of promise). It took God 25 years to keep His promise. There is a great lesson to be learned here because we are so prone to impatience as human beings—The lesson is that we much learn to allow God to work in HIS TIME, not ours. So many believers become frustrated like Abraham and Sarah did because they don’t believe God will come through for them. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah 90 when Isaac was born. God kept His promises!
The feud going on in the Middle East is a family matter that goes backs millenniums to Isaac and Ishmael. The fighting in the Middle East is definitely in part over the land. Muslims teach that Ishmael is the son of promise; therefore, the land of Palestine belongs to the Arab nations (of course, they reject the Bible as valid and instead follow the Koran). Jews on the other hand strictly adhere to the Old Testament, which specifically declares Isaac to be the son of promise. There will be NO END to this Jewish/Arab Middle-East conflict until Jesus returns my friend. Listen to what the Bible has to say about the Arabs (the descendants of Ishmael)…
“And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” (Genesis 16:12)
I have nothing against Arab people; God loves all people of all nations. I am simply saying ladies and gentlemen that the Bible prophesied that this fighting would happen. We are living in a time of fulfilled prophecy. END
