Ishmael And Isaac

The modern world is convinced the unending quarrel between Muslim and Jew is about geography.

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Two brothers of one father and two mothers. The ages-long struggle between them began at their birth and has never ceased. Hagar was the mother of the first born, Ishmael. Sarah was the mother of the second born, Isaac. Abraham was the father of both.

Did God’s blessing that the children of Abraham’s seed shall become a mighty nation apply to both wives, and both children?

Disputed inheritance assures a quarrel.

God foretold the coming strife when He warned Hager that her son, Ishmael, would be a “wild ass of a man,” (Genesis 16:12) in constant struggle with all other men, including his relatives. Even so, the progeny of both Ishmael and Isaak spawned nations.

Did God plan all this from the beginning? Who knows. The ways of God are inscrutable.

Strangely, the origin of this ancient conflict is barely remembered in the modern world. If it is recalled, it’s dismissed as myth, and unimportant to the current clash between Muslims and Jews. The myopia of modern times explains a lot of modern conflicts. So too, the continual muddling of names, dates, and causes.

The offspring of Ishmael (Arabs) became wandering tribes of Arabs. The offspring of Isaac (Hebrews) became wandering tribes of Jews. There were centuries of skirmishes between Arab and Jew, but no more so than centuries of skirmishes between Arab and Arab, or Jew and Jew.

The wandering tribes of Jews maintained their allegiance to the God of Abraham all the way from Mesopotamia (2091 BC) to their arrival in Canaan, some 75 years later.

A famine in Canaan around1827 BC forced many of the Hebrew settlers to follow Jacob (of the coat of many colors) into Egypt. The Hebrews who removed to Egypt were eventually enslaved by Rameses II — for 440 years.

Their exodus from Egypt happened in 1612 BC. After that, they wandered in the desert for 40 years until Moses led them back to Caanan — which was by then inhabited by usurpers from Crete known as Philistines.

In 1400 BC, Joshua crossed the river Jordan with an army of Hebrew warriors who cleared Caanan of every Philistine, and razed every Philistine city.

The Hebrews called their newly conquered land, Israel. They called themselves, Israelites.

The first undisputed mention of “Israel”, other than the Bible, was carved in granite on the Merneptah Stele, which was uncovered in 1896 by Egyptologist, Finders Petrie.

The original purpose of the Stele was to record the military triumphs of the Pharaoh Merneptah (the son of Rameses II who ruled Egypt from 1213 BC to 1203 BC

The mention of Isarel was only incidental, even so, it was hard evidence of Israel’s ancient claim to the land.

Meanwhile, the wandering tribes of Ishmael (Arabs) continued to wander without a shared identity from around 2000 BC until some 2,650 years later when Mohamed founded the religion of Islam in roughly 650 AD.

The founding of Islam also marked the end of the occasional scuffles between wandering tribes of Ishmael and the now settled tribes of Isaac - After Islam, the conflict was continuous.

One command in the Quron assures unending violence between Islam and all other faiths. Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and all else - even Atheists share one thing in common.

They are all Infidels.

Mohamed declared in the Quran that the followers of any other religion, or of no religion at all, are Infidels. Mohamed also instructs how infidels should be treated. Those who obey the will of Allah are commanded by to, “Strike the neck of the Infidel”.

Mohamed allows that the death penalty might be avoided - in some cases, by ruinous taxing, or exile - In any case, never tolerated.

Yahweh and Allah are not interchangeable names for the same God. Mohamed’s Allah commands, “Strike the neck of the Infidel”. The God of Abraham commands, “Thou shall not murder”.

Muslims ironically refer to Allah as, “Allah, the merciful”.

A great deal of the Quran echoes what is said in both the Torah and the Christian Bible: all three books preach fairness and benevolence. The exception between them is that the good teachings of the Torah and Christian Bible apply to all of God’s children, while the good teachings of the Quran apply only to the followers of Allah.

Everyone else is promised Jihad: continuous ho[y war until every Infidel is exterminated. Islam allows for no compromise on this point. Peace with the Infidel is not possible.

The Arabs before Islam were polytheistic followers of many pagan gods; Allah was only one of those many desert gods. Mohamid selected Allah as the one-and-true god, possibly in an attempt to restore the remembered monotheism of Abraham’s faith.

Both Yahweh and Allah are understood as omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and merciful. However, Allah offers no promises.

The will of Allah is not tied to the actions of his followers. Muslims often say of any endeavor, “Allah willing”. They say that because the will of Allah is unpredictable. Even the savage devotional terrorism of Jihad is no guarantee of salvation.

The wild desert passion of the Islamic Arabs convinces them that endless jihad is the best way to convince Allah they’re worthy of salvation.

The mild urban dispassion of the civilized world doesn’t consider salvation important at all; if fact, the modern world is convinced the unending quarrel between Muslim and Jew is about geography. Both Ishmael and Isaac would have known better.

Palestine, as a nation, is a modern conceit.

Herodotus, in his book, The Histories, was probably the first to write about Palestine. Herodotus described Palestine as a region along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean in much the same way Americas now speak of the Pacific Northwest, or the Florida Keys. Herodotus book was written around 500 BC. Since then and until the last years of the nineteenth century AD, Palestine was a place — not a Nation.

Over the centuries the indefinite geographic area of Palestine has been thought no more than the province of Palestine by: Assyrians; Babylonians; Greeks; Romans, Ottomans; and British colonialists. The same area was called Israel by the Israelite people who lived on that same area for millennia. At times, in all that time, The Israelite people have been conquered, enslaved or driven from the land many times over. Their souls never left.

The Holy Land of the Bible is Israel.

Arabs and Jews have shared the geographic region of Palestine for centuries. The only Nation ever established on the geographic region of Palestine is the Nation of Israel.

There has never been a Nation of Palestine.

These days many modern Muslims prefer to overlook the Quran’s command to strike the neck of the Infidel. Would that Islamic fundamentalists thought the same. If the “Palestinians” were ever to renounce, “Death to the Infidel”, they would be as welcomed in Isarel as all other people and faiths are welcomed.

Should that day ever come - Ishmael and Isaac could then share peacefully the land God promised to their father, Abraham.

By K. L. Shipley

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