Genesis 25: 12-18
Why is this information included?
12 Now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. 13 And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, twelve princes according to their nations. 17 These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 (They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He died in the presence of all his brethren.
Let me ask you a question and I want you to thoroughly consider it before coming up with an answer. Do you find any of the books of the bible or for that matter separate portions of the bible like they aren’t really important?
Come on now, tell the truth and shame the devil. I know in the past that I did. However, I have learned that what our Precious Holy Spirit has put into the Bible is all good.
Now I am sure all of you understand that Ishmael was not in the line of importance as far a tracing the lineage of the Messiah. So, why did our Holy Spirit put in as a permanent record Ishmael’s genealogy?
Well, centuries before the appearance of Islam in the now terror-ridden Middle-East, the Bible had given us a glimpse of what awaited the people of that area, and in particular, for the Jews (and by the same token, the Christians). Most Muslims will claim despite the fact that in the history books, [Islam did not make its first appearance until Mohammed founded the religion 24 generations after Ishmael life, in 622 AD] , that Islam in fact was the religion of the prophets past, going back all the way to the creation of the world. There are passages in the Quran which declare that, Abraham the Patriarch of Judaism and Christianity was not a Jew, nor a Christian; but that he was a Muslim. The references to people being Muslims, before Mohammed first established the religion, are presented with frequency in the Quran.
Our Holy God knows the beginning from the end. He foresaw the confusion the Islamic religion would try to contend.
Muslims, as well as Christians and Jews, will agree that Islam’s expansion, at the hand of Mohammed, was foretold in the book of Genesis. The specific story is found in chapter 16, “"Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, ‘I cannot watch the boy die.’ And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob. God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.' Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt."
The angel, furthermore, gives Hagar a good reason for returning. He tells her of the huge role that her returning to Abraham would play, in bringing about a great prophecy. The angel says to her, I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count. He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers. (Gen 16:7-12)
And this is the prophetic word, which perhaps was never fully understood by the ancient Israelites, nor by the Christians. That is, until Islam first stuck its head out, six centuries after the fulfillment of another part of the great prophecy - the birth of Christianity, which was a blessing to all the nations; prophesied of in the same book of Genesis.
The prophecy (for Ishmael) tells of how great (in numbers) his descendants would be. His descendants would not only be many, in numbers, but they would also be tough people, able to live in harsh conditions (such as found in the desert), and they would be warriors. But the most important of all, the prophecy foretells the long lasting conflict between Ishmael and all those who live around him (and among him).
Even when he was still alive, Ishmael showed how this prophecy would be fulfilled. In Genesis 25:18, we read ‘They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his relatives. Ishmael spread across the land; making the lands (spreading) from Havilah to Shur his own. And this he did in defiance of his relatives, as prophesied in chapter 16 his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; and he will live east of his brothers (relatives, kinsmen). However, this was not the complete fulfillment of this prophecy; the true fulfillment was in Islam’s own spreading over the Middle-East and even the world.
The history of Islam’s rise and spread is filled with wars, both with the locals and the foreigners. From the first militaristic engagement with the Meccans, and the unforgettable Holy Wars, over the possession of Jerusalem otherwise known as the Crusades up to this day, Muslims have been taking lands into their possession, in defiance of everyone.
Unlike the Israelites, who were promised a piece of land, in which they would settle and have dominion over it, the Ishmaelite were not given any land to possess, but instead, they were to take it by force (though not by authority of God).
Muslims claim that the prophecy of greatly multiplying Ishmael’s descendants making of him a great (quantity) nation is a sign of God’s blessing of Ishmael’s descendants, and the promise of the One True Religion Islam. However, this is not in accordance with what the Scriptures testify of. Genesis 17:15-21, Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. "I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her." Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before You!" But God said, "No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. "As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.
God makes it clear that, although He will make of Ishmael a great nation, and will bless him and his descendants, the covenant and promise to Abraham about keeping his descendants before Him was to be fulfilled only through the line of Isaac, Abraham’s legitimate first son (by Sarah). Although Ishmael was indeed, Abraham’s first son, his conception was brought about by a lack of faith, which is why God could not make the covenant with Ishmael because God does not bless disobedience. Prior to Abraham’s union to Hagar, God had already promised Abraham that he would have a son by Sarah. But Abraham was impatient, and lost sight of the promise, and in a way, making himself his own god, in direct defiance of God.
It was this aspect of Abraham that was passed down, as a kind of curse, unto Ishmael and his descendants.
As we try to put all of the above into one conclusive argument, we are left with the understanding that, the Scriptures which refer to Ishmael were prophetic indeed. That during Ishmael’s life, he fulfilled the prophetic words given to his mother; that he inherited a negative aspect of his father, which made him a man of little patience, and a strong determination; a man who would defy everyone, and he was not afraid of the consequences.
The bigger picture of the prophecy was to give Ishmael a multitude of descendants, so great in numbers that they would become a great power, a force to be reckoned with in the Middle-East and throughout the world. This was finally fulfilled with the emergence of Mohammed’s Islam; the final piece to the puzzle.
And thus we see the clear evidence of Islam within the Scriptures. Though not as the Muslims would declare it; nevertheless, it is quite a powerful prophecy, which had not been deciphered until it was finally fulfilled.
So, as our Precious Holy Spirit recorded centuries before any claim could be made out to be that Ishmael was the true descendant of Abraham where the Messianic line would come from, I find another important reason why our Wonderful Holy Ghost lists Ishmael’s genealogy.
In the book of Genesis chapter 27,. We read this important incident. See if you can pick up what is happening.
“Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.” 2 Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. 4 And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
Now here is a question, why did Isaac make the statement about dying? Now any medical doctor will tell you that when you are dying you do not want to eat. Yet we see that Isaac has a good appetite.
Also, we find in the book of Genesis chapter 35 this, “ 27 Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt. 28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. 29 So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Isaac lived for many, many years after he had asked Esau for the food. So, again, why is he talking about death? And how does this tie into the genealogy of Ishmael.
You can discover great chunks of gold when you explore the biblical writings and dig into different available data. You see if you come upon a chart showing the life and deaths of the individuals starting from Adam you will find out that Ishmael died around the same time Isaac is thinking that his time of walking this earth is also over. So, he wants to give Esau a blessing while having the benefit of a good steak dinner. Since his brother Ishmael died at a certain age, Isaac was now at the same age and thought that he was also soon to die. As you can see this was not God’s plan for Isaac who wound up living many more years.
When I look at this amazing facts I stand in awe of how Awesome our God Is and how Amazing the Bible really is.
