Isaac And Ishmael

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said: “I am God the Almighty. Walk in my presence and be blameless.” God also said to Abraham: “On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you shall be circumcised.” God further said to Abraham: “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai; her name shall be Sarah. I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. Him also will I bless; he shall give rise to nations, and rulers of peoples shall issue from him.”

Abraham prostrated himself and laughed as he said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Or can Sarah give birth at ninety?” Then Abraham said to God, “Let but Ishmael live on by your favor!” 

God replied: “Nevertheless, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son, and you shall call him Isaac. I will maintain my covenant with him as an everlasting pact, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I am heeding you: I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation. But my covenant I will maintain with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you by this time next year.” When he had finished speaking with him, God departed from Abraham. (Genesis  17:1, 9-10, 15-22)

We all wish that God would speak to us – directly.  We all want promises or predictions of our futures. Abraham and Sarah apparently had that opportunity as reported to us in Genesis.

This biblical story is enchanting and legendary.  Isaac from Sarah and Ishmael from Hagar, the servant, were quite a pair with Abraham at 100 years fathering both Isaac and Ishmael. Now that’s virility.  One might say 100 years is a bit past prime. Then again, we have the virgin birth.

Two great nations resulted.  Isaac is associated with the Jewish nation, but not Ishmael and his mother who were banished to the desert. A minor figure thereafter in the traditions of Judaism and Christianity, Ishmael continued to play a foundational role in Islamic tradition.  

So, two great nations and faiths have gone to war with each other over the centuries: Judaism versus Islam.  Seems like a crime against God who blessed both peoples.  

Look what is happening in Israel and Palestine today with walls, separation, oppression, anger, and armed conflict. According to Genesis, God blessed Isaac and Ishmael and their descendants. God, seems like your blessings have “worn off.”  Time for a do-over?

Deacon David Pierce