Genesis 25: 12-18
Useless Information?
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 boring?
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 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, for one thing, we can trace the Arab migration. You see we tend a lot to call all Islamic or Muslim people Arabs. They are not.
Our Holy God knows the beginning from the end. He foresaw the confusion the Islamic religion would try to contend.
Ishmael is not the Father of Muhammad. According to the Holy Bible Ishmael settled in Paran and married an Egyptian from whom he had twelve sons: We read in the book of Genesis chapter 21 verses 13-21:
"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."
Paran (Hb pa'ran) is most frequently the name of a desert region). The place name Elparan that we read in Genesis chapter 14:6 – ‘6 and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness. No doubt as we see from this Scripture reference that this place is associated with the desert. The desert of Paran was the home of the Ishmaelites in which we find out in Genesis chapter 21 verse 21 – ‘ 21 He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.’
The desert of Paran is probably that region of the Negeb which lies south of Kadesh-barnea.
We read in the book of Genesis 14 verses 5-7, "In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar."
Please note that in the book of Numbers chapter 10 verses 11-13 we find the Israelites traveling through Ishmael’s territory. "On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony. Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran. They set out, this first time, at the LORD's command through Moses."
And we pick up more information from Numbers 12 verses 15-16, "So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back. After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran."
If you look at Numbers chapter 13 verses 1-3, we will find that this is the spot where Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High – instructed Moses to send 12 spies into the Promised Land, "The LORD said to Moses, "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.' So at the LORD's command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites."
"At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.
The Holy Bible indicates that Ishmael married an Egyptian. The Holy Bible also tells us where Ishmael's sons settled:
"This is the account of Abraham's son Ishmael, whom Sarah's maidservant, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers."
Shur is located around the area of Palestine and Egypt:
Shur (Hb sur), a geographical name which designates the slopes of Palestine and East of Egypt and North of the deserts of the Sinai Peninsula.
This conclusively demonstrates that neither Ishmael nor his twelve sons settled in Mecca. It is claimed that some of the descendents of Ishmael's twelve sons migrated to Arabia. For instance Nebaioth is said to be the father of the Nabateans. The Nabateans flourished in northern Arabia, first establishing their capital in Petra in the 4th century B.C. which was captured by the Romans in 106 B.C. They then moved to Damascus. The Dead Sea Scrolls actually contains Nabatean documents from the later period.
Biblical data shows that Ishmael settled in Paran, not Mecca, and married an Egyptian, not an Arab. Tradition states that Ishmael learnt Arabic from the tribe of (or a family from) Jurhum who settled in Mecca. Since Arabic is not Ishmael's mother tongue, and since Arabic as a language existed before, Ishmael cannot be the ancestor of Arabs. This means that the notion that Ishmael is the progenitor of the Arabs is erroneous. At most, Ishmael can only be called an Arabicized immigrant. The Muslim traditions prove that Ishmael is not the father of all the Arabs.
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.
