Notes on the Arabs in the Bible

GOD PROMISED TO MAKE ABRAHAM INTO A GREAT NATION AND BLESS ALL PEOPLE ON EARTH THROUGH HIM

Genesis 12:1-3  The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.  "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

SARAI FAILED TO CONCEIVE AFTER 10 YEARS AND SO ABRAHAM TOOK HAGAR AS HIS WIFE

Genesis 16:3  So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.

HAGAR BEGAN TO DESPISE SARAI ONCE SHE WAS PREGNANT

Genesis 16:4  He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

THE ANGEL OF THE LORD TOLD HAGAR THAT HE WOULD MAKE HER DESCENDANTS NUMEROUS

Genesis 16:7-10  The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.  And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered.  Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her."  The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."

ABRAM'S FIRST CHILD WAS TO BE CALLED ISHMAEL

Genesis 16:11 The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery.

PROPHESY ABOUT ISHMAEL

Genesis 16:12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."

ABRAM'S FIRST SON WAS BORN TO THE SERVANT WOMAN

Genesis 16:15-16 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.  Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

GOD CONFIRMED HIS COVENANT WITH ABRAM AT THE AGE OF 99

Genesis 17:1-2 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty ; walk before me and be blameless.  I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."

GOD PROMISED TO MAKE ABRAM THE FATHER OF MANY NATIONS

Genesis 17:3-6  Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.  No longer will you be called Abram ; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.  I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

GOD ESTABLISHED AN EVERLASTING COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM AND HIS DESCENDANTS:  I WILL BE YOUR GOD AND YOU WILL BE MY PEOPLE

Genesis 17:7-9  I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.  The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."  Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.

THE SIGN OF THIS EVERLASTING COVENANT WAS CIRCUMCISION

Genesis 17:10-13 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.  You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.  For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner--those who are not your offspring.  Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised.  My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.

ANY UNCIRCUMCISED MALE WAS TO BE CUT OFF FROM HIS PEOPLE

Genesis 17:14  Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

GOD WANTED TO ESTABLISH HIS COVENANT THROUGH A CHILD BORN TO SARAH AS PROMISED

Genesis 17:15-22 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."  Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?"  And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!"  Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.  And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.  But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."  When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

THAT IT MIGHT BE THROUGH FAITH AND NOT THROUGH HUMAN EFFORT

Galatians 3:2-9  I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?  Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?  Have you suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for nothing?  Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?  Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."  Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.  The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."  So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Galatians 3:14-18  He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.  Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.  For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

ABRAM WANTED TO BLESS ISHMAEL

Genesis 17:18 And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!"

Genesis 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

ABRAM AND ISHMAEL WERE CIRCUMCISED ON THE SAME DAY

Genesis 17:23-26 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.  Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was thirteen; Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day.

GOD TOLD ABRAHAM TO GET RID OF THE SON OF THE SLAVE WOMAN

Genesis 21:8-11 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast.  But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac."  The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.

GOD WANTED TO RECONCILE ABRAHAM'S OFFSPRING THROUGH ISAAC

Genesis 21:12 But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.

GOD ALSO MADE ISHMAEL INTO A GREAT NATION AND WAS WITH HIM AS HE GREW UP

Genesis 21:13-21  I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring."  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.

ABRAHAM TOOK ANOTHER WIFE AND HAD LOTS OF CHILDREN TO HER

Genesis 25:1-4  Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.  She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah.   Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites.  The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.

LIKE ISHMAEL, HE SENT THEM AWAY TO THE EAST, BLESSING THEM WITH MANY GIFTS

Genesis 25:6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.

ABRAHAM LEFT EVERYTHING TO ISAAC

Genesis 25:5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.

ABRAHAM WAS BURIED BY BOTH ISAAC AND ISHMAEL WHEN HE DIED

Genesis 25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite,

ISHMAEL HAD TWELVE CHILDREN WHO BECAME TRIBAL LEADERS (AS WITH JACOB)

Genesis 25:12-16 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.

The Ishmaelites are thought to be the wandering Bedouin tribes who populated the North and West of the Arabian Peninsula giving rise to most of the Arab nations.  They now follow Mohammad, but they look to Ishmael as their spiritual father.

Were they considered part of the Assembly of the Lord?

ISHMAEL DIED AT THE AGE OF 137

Genesis 25:17 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 (EAST OF EGYPT)

Genesis 25:18 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.

This is the area that we refer to as the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran)

ESAU MARRIED ONE OF ISHMAEL'S DAUGHTERS

Genesis 28:8-9 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.

ESAU BECAME THE FATHER OF THE EDOMITES

Genesis 36:1-3 This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom). Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite--also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

Genesis 36:4  Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel,

Genesis 36:13 The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath.

Genesis 36:17 The sons of Esau's son Reuel: Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in Edom; they were grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath.

ABRAHAM'S OFFSPRING WERE TO BE RECKONED THROUGH ISAAC

Romans 9:6-8  It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.  Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.

HAGAR REPRESENTS A DIFFERENT COVENANT WITH GOD

Galatians 4:22-29 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.  These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.  But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written: "Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband."  Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.  At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.

THE CHILDREN OF THE SLAVE WOMEN WILL NOT RECEIVE THE SAME INHERITANCE AS THE CHILDREN OF THE FREE WOMEN

Galatians 4:30-31  But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son."  Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman