| (Copyright 07-23-2024) by Craig M. White (Australia) |
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| God had promised Abraham a son, but Abraham’s faith was severely tested. He listened to his wife Sarah’s advice. Abraham thought he needed to help God fulfill the promise, so when Sarah couldn’t conceive, he listened to Sarah, his wife (Gen 16:1-3) and used her handmaid Hagar for this purpose (Gen 16:16). This resulted in the birth of Ishmael, which means “God hears.” The people would wear gold earrings to signify this meaning of Ishmael’s name (as mentioned in Judges 8:24). Overall, the passage highlights the importance of directly hearing from God and obeying Him, rather than relying solely on human advice, even from one’s spouse. It also shows how Abraham’s attempt to “help” God led to complications, underscoring the need to wait patiently for God’s timing and plan to unfold. Ishmael was the son born through natural means, not the child whom God had promised. In contrast, Isaac was the child of God’s promise who inherited the birthright. Yet even though Ishmael was not the child of promise, God still blessed him with 12 sons and numerous descendants. As recorded in Genesis 16:12, the Lord described Ishmael’s character in the following way: “And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” So where are the Ishmaelites located today? History, anthropology and tradition align with the Scriptures to provide the proofs contained at: CW | The Modern Day Descendants of Ishmael (friendsofsabbath.org) If you find any errors in this draft article (historical, grammatical etc), please let me know. ——————————————————————————————————— See Craig White’s other articles at: White, Craig M. – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) Reprinted with permission from: Friends of the Sabbath Australia http://www.friendsofsabbath.org/ ——————————————————————————————————— |
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