Genesis 16:11-12 –
<11> And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. <12> This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”
Reading this and looking at the world today… it becomes clear what’s going on in the Middle East. This book was written some 3500 years ago and if you look at the descendants of Ishmael (who are Arabs and mostly Muslim) and look at their fighting you now can see the biblical reference.
Hagar was given the same promise as Abram … where God told her “I will give you more descendants than you can count.” So we now see the “divide” in the Middle East and how it’s spreading all over the world. For some reason WE (the USA) thinks peace is obtainable in the Middle East. I feel it’s not … not only do you have this major family divide … but also, look at Mohammed, a descendent of Ishmael and the leader of Islam, who promised that once they take lands they will never be given back … hence the problems with the Jews occupying Israel.
Unfortunately it will never be solved until the end times … so hopefully we are not going to see peace in our lives. Don’t know if I want to see “the end”!!
Proverbs 10:12 –
“Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses.”
good place to put yesterdays RFK quote also;-)