lorne,
Thanks for the post!
Firstly, the statement, "All three major religions worship the same God. The God of abraham", is a lie. I will admit, both are truly monothestic and hold strongly to the concept. But thats where the similiarity ends. It a carefully implanted lie into the minds of many. But Allah is not the same god as the Judeo-Christian God, and the characteristics of Allah and the Judeo-Christian God are very, very different. Read the Islamic scripture verses the Bible and it is easily seen.
Secondly, this biblical verse sums up who the chosen son was:
Genesis 17
18 And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!"
19 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.
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.
21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."
Now let me show you something interesting. I believe the promise made to Ishmael was fulfilled totally. Here is why:
1. "I will surely bless him"
The Arabs are definitely blessed with approxiametly 75% of the oil supply in the world.
2. "I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers"
As of late 80's there were 167 million Arabs. (That is what I call exceedingly multiplying!) I don't have the more current numbers, but I am sure they prove the point even further!
3."He will be the father of twelve rulers"
There are many more countries than 12 claiming to be Arab. So there are at least 12 princes.
4. "and I will make him into a great nation"
I think if you look into your history books, in the seventh to twelfth century the Muslim Empire fulfilled being a great nation.
So as the Ishmael scripture and promises were met, I think it is safe to assume that the Isaac promises are correct also. Or are we supposed to say, we choose to believe one, but not the other?
But I agree with the theme that this comes down to a family feud, between the two sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac, that causes our main problem. And to solve any problem, one must address the root of the problem to come up with a solution. Treating the symptoms won't fix it! So it is important to understand the fundamental root of the problem, as described, and dealing with who is right and wrong here? That is the proper starting point, in my opinion.
God Bless,
IGIT |
