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The Arab-Israeli Conflict

Genesis 16

Genesis 15:19-21 lists 10 ancient nations that once inhabited Canaan and who opposed the intrusion of Abraham's descendants after their exodus from Egypt. None of those nations exists today. But the descendants of one man, who was also an opponent of Abraham's descendants, today comprise one of the largest ethnic groups in the world: Arabs.

Arabs could also be called Ishmaelites since they are the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham by Hagar, the maidservant of Abraham's wife, Sarah. God had promised Abraham and Sarah innumerable descendants (Genesis 15:5), but the couple remained childless. Growing impatient, Sarah offered Hagar to Abraham as a surrogate, and Hagar bore him a son named Ishmael. Sarah grew resentful of Hagar and drove her away, but God rescued her and said she would have a son who would be "a wild donkey of a man" who would "live in hostility toward all his brothers" (Genesis 16:12, NIV).

Sarah ultimately conceived a son by Abraham who was named Isaac, who became the inheritor of God's covenant promises to Abraham. It was through Isaac, not Ishmael, that God's blessings flowed. Abraham was compassionate toward Ishmael (Genesis 17:18), but Sarah urged Abraham to drive Hagar and her son away from their family. In spite of her banishment, God promised Hagar that her son would become the progenitor of a great nation which he obviously did (Genesis 17:20; 21:19-20; 25:12-16). Ishmael and Isaac together buried their father Abraham when he died (Genesis 25:9). But after Ishmael's death, his descendants "lived in hostility toward all their brothers" (Genesis 25:18, NIV).

Isaac's descendants are Jews while Ishmael's are Arabs. The centuries-long conflict between the two peoples has its origin in Abraham's and Sarah's unwillingness to trust God for the perfect timing for the birth of their promised son.

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