Abraham and Ishmael

Finding the anti-Christ or naming his religion has been the pastime of many “Christians.” Whether it is the Catholic Church, Freemasonry or Communism, the European Economic Union, Russia or North Korea, people demonize others and like to populate the Axis of Evil as if it was a God given commission to piece together the End Times puzzle. Today it seems that Islam has become the archenemy of some Christians. To support their claim they quote Genesis 12:3:

“[...] and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse [...]“

Some Christians take this verse to mean:

“I, God, will bless Israel and curse the Arab world because the Arabs are the enemies of Israel. To be blessed Americans need to support Israel politically and militarily.”

There is also a tele-evangelist, John Hagee, who has developed an End Times chart showing on one side Abraham with a link leading to Isaac and Israel and on the other side Ishmael with a link leading to Islam. Islam being now the religion that will spark World War III and Armageddon which in turn will bring the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ. John Hagee is not the only one teaching a similar End Times scenario. Among others are Benny Hill, Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins, Hal Lindsey, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell etc. It is easy enough to surf the various religious channels to see how wide spread this thinking is.

Now my purpose here is not to get into whether or not we should be in Iraq. Nor is my goal to make any political or theological statements about Judaism and Islam. My goal is to study what the Bible actually means in Genesis 12:1-3. As a bible believer I cannot let people distort the Word of God.

Genesis

To see what God says about Isaac and Ishmael we need to look at Genesis chapters 12 to 21. This is a long passage and not all pertains directly to the children of the Patriarch. Instead of going verse by verse I will simply review the story summarizing its context and establishing the chronology of events.

As we can see above, the text does not support the curse to Ishmael and Islam. First of all because Islam is only a 7th century religion and the Bible could not possibly speak of it. Second, every verse relating to Ishmael reflects God’s blessings and favor on him. Third, even when God specifies that Isaac is the child of the covenant, His favor still remains on Ishmael as well. Therefore any End Times claims about Islam can only be extra Biblical and therefore wrong.

The seed of the promise

If Genesis 12:1-3 does not speak about those who curse the 21st century nation of Israel what is it talking about? To whom does the promise apply? The answer can be found in the letter to the Romans. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 deal with grace and the Jewish law. In chapter 4 Paul says:

(Rom 4:3) “For the promise [to Abram] that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” [...] (Rom 4:24) But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.”

In Galatians chapter 3 Paul leaves no doubt to the meaning of the promises to Abram’s seed:

(Gal 3:16) “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. [...] (Gal 3:28-29) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

The promise made to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3 applies to Christians. There is no Israel or Islam, all who believe do not belong to a nation or tribe or any specific ethnic background. What makes the difference is the belief in Christ. We, Christians are Abram’s seed and heirs to God’s promises. The blessing and the curse are then to those who bless or persecute Christ not to Israel or Islam.

God’s People

The Old Testament does consider the Israelites as the people of God. But how should we define the term? In Roman 4:11 Paul writes:

“[Abram] received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised.”

Being circumcised or Jewish, does not qualify anyone to be a child of God. Righteousness that comes from grace and faith in Jesus Christ does qualify us as children of God. We are the people of God. How can we say that? Israel failed in her faith. Jesus, the God of the Old Testament, came to His people and they did not recognized Him. Not only did they not recognized Him, they killed Him. Am I the only one to say that? I could rewrite the Bible in my own words but that would be only my words. Consider instead the book of the Acts of the Apostles chapter 7. The whole chapter is a summary of meaning of the Bible.

Saint Stephen facing the Sanhedrin recounts the promises of God to Abraham and his seed. How God worked throughout history to bring Israel to conversion, giving them the law and the prophets. How the Israelites killed their own prophets and finally when the promise to Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, they killed Him. Hearing Saint Stephen’s accusation the Elders of the Sanhedrin took him outside the city and stoned him to death.

Today, Muslims believe Jesus will be the one to come back at the end of the world. Not Mohammed but Jesus. Although they believe Christians have distorted the Scriptures and Jesus is only a human being, they do have respect for Jesus and they do consider Him a prophet. On the other hand, the nation of Israel still reject Jesus as a prophet let alone as their God.

Israel

Sometimes it is difficult to understand the Bible and it is always good to follow the doctrines of the Church closely to avoid going astray. But I understand that some Christians of good faith, rejecting the Church, would have different interpretations for certain passages. On the other hand, as it is here, the Bible itself explains what Genesis 12:1-3 means and leaves no doubt about it. If we believe that the Bible is inspired then we must accept that Paul’s interpretation is inspired and the Holy Spirit Himself has given us the meaning of the passage: the promise is Christ and it is for those who believe in Him, not for Israel who still today rejects Jesus. If the Holy Spirit through Saint Paul has bothered to tell us, we would be better off to listen for there can be no other explanation acceptable.

But then, has God rejected the Israel? Paul addresses the issue in chapter 11 of his letter to the Romans. No, God does not go back on His promises. They are still there and they still stand (Rom 11:1-2). Israel has been blinded (11:7). But the fall of Israel has been the salvation of the Gentiles (11:11). Then Paul goes into the analogy of the tree that has been pruned so that new branches can be grafted in (11:17). What is Paul saying?

A different analogy more appropriate for our times would be this. It is similar to the story of the prodigal son except that this time it is the older son who has rejected the father and left the family. The Jewish people are our older brothers but they rejected their God when they rejected Jesus. To complete His family the Father has extended the promises to those who accept Jesus. He did not take away the promises from the older brothers to give them to the younger brothers. Instead He expanded the family to all the nations of the world. Christ died for all even including Muslims.

God’s promises to the older brothers still stand today but they have rejected them when they rejected Jesus and as long as they reject Jesus they reject God and His promises. But the promises still stand. What will it take for the older brother to get their promises back? All they have to do is come back into the family of God. The promises are waiting for them.

Imagine how wonderful is the family of God now that the promises have been extended to all through Jesus Christ. Imagine how glorious will the family of God be when the older brothers will come back home (Rom 11:24).

Conclusion

Genesis 12:1-3 does not refer to Israel and Islam or Jews and Palestinians. It refers to those spiritual children of Abraham who through faith believe Jesus Christ is God. Neither Israel or Islam meet this definition. I will not say whether it is wrong to politically support Israel or whether it is right to be at war with Iraq but I will say there is no biblical reason for either. Both Jews and Muslims have the promises made to Abraham because the promises made to Abraham were made to all people because Christ died for all people.

We, Christians, do not curse anybody, we pray for everybody. Our role is to witness, to evangelize and failing that to love all people into Kingdom Come.