"Now I have a Christian library and not one single Christian author ever expressed the revelation that they were even kin" We are not communicating and I give up on this one.
"You talk about God making a covenant with Ishmael and Isaac but I have studied the Bible closely and found only one, and that being made with Isaac. I engage in religious discussion not as a novice but as someone who has been at it for over 20 years now."
Chris, I don't know what you think your battle with me is but it obviously has nothing to do with seeking the truth.
20 years? The Bible is not my book. I find it to be a flawed document but just the same; here is what I could find in it in about three minutes. The information about Ismael is a bit sketchy and somewhat biased but then it is a collection of ancient oral traditions that the Jews held and passed on that was focused on their own history, so that is not surprising.
Genesis16:15 And Hagar bor Abram a son: and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bor, Ish'mael...
Genesis 17:5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
Genesis 17:6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you.
Genesis 17:7 And I will establish my coventant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendents after you.....
Genesis 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold I will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation....
Genesis 17:22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son ...(and all the men of the household)...and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day...
Genesis 21:17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the Angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, "What troubles you, hagar? Fear not: for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him fast with your hand; for I will make him a great nation."
Then Hagar and her son Ismael kind of drift off into the wilderness and are lost from the text of the Bible.
What do you figure happened after that? Do you think God just forgot about the plan he had for Ishmael?
Chris, I don't think you give a hoot about seeking the truth. So, whatever your agenda is take it to someone else. |
