12. More Misused Terms in Popular Prophecy: Isaac and Ishmael.

 I. Isaac and Ishmael:  Genesis 17:19-21.

           A. Who are Isaac and Ishmael today according to the New Testament?

           1. Read Galatians 4:22-31, regarding the two sons of Abraham, an allegory[1] of the two covenants.  

          In this allegory, Ishmael, the son of Hagar (Agar), the bondwoman represents the law as given at Sinai as interpreted by the Pharisees who were ruling the earthly, literal Jerusalem at that time.  Therefore the earthly Jerusalem was in bondage to the “Jews’ religion”.  So the “Jews’ religion” was Ishmael in the allegory.

           The Christians are Isaac in the allegory: “Now we, brethren [Christians], as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” Galatians 4:28.  At Paul’s writing, the “Jews’ religion”, ‘Ishmael’, was persecuting the Church, ‘Isaac’, Galatians 4:29.  That has not changed.

           2. “The Law” given at Sinai was good: I Timothy 1:5-8.

It was holy: Romans 7:12, 14, 16; 8:4.

It was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ: Galatians 3:24.

Christ is the “end”, purpose, of the Law: Romans 10:4.

Love is the fulfillment of the Law: Romans 13:8, 10; Galatians 5:14.

              What the Bible condemns is the Pharisees’ interpretation of the Law without the knowledge of Christ.  This is the legalism which is bondage.         

B. What the names mean.   

          1. ‘Isaac’ means laughter.  Sarah laughed at the prospect of her having a son, Genesis 18:12; 21:6.  Abraham also laughed, Genesis 17:17.  Isaac was the “son of promise”.

           2. Read: AMP: Genesis 16:7-13.  ‘Ishmael’ means “God hears”, v. 11.  Hagar called God by the name of Jehovah-Jireh, “God sees”, v. 13.

            a. Ishmael was not cursed, but blessed: Read: Genesis 17:20; 21:13-20.  Ishmael was not “a wild man”, better understood as “a nomad”.   He was a fruitful, virile, man, Genesis 16:12, as the same word is used in 17:6 for Abraham to be ‘fruitful’.[2]  Ishmael’s generations are found in Genesis 25:12-18. “He died in the presence of his brethren.”         

          b. Ishmael’s descendants are listed and became the Arab nations along with the sons of Keturah, Genesis 25:1-2.  

          c. Read: Acts 17:26-27. God made all nations of one blood in the Creation.  We are “recreated” in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:10, and become a new creature, 2 Corinthians 5:17.  External conditions or racial characteristics do not avail anything, Galatians 6:15.  God’s salvation is offered to all nations in Christ: Matthew 28:19.   

          C. How all the Semites, even the Pharisees, are offered Life.  The story of Sivini: Justice and judgment for the evil principalities and powers; salvation for the people.

          D. How tribal hatred is turned to the Love of God:  The story of Sivini: Justice and judgment for the evil principalities and powers; salvation for the people.

 

(Quoted from Wycliffe Associates letter December 2008). 

            “How long since you last met a killer?  Give me three minutes and I’ll introduce you.  His name is Sivini, and for years, hatred was his business.

            “Hatred is a commodity among the tribes of Papua New Guinea (PNG). One tribe attacks another; people die. Then the other tribe seeks revenge.

            “Sivini was in charge of revenge.

            “Among the Usarufa people, in the eastern highlands of PNG, he was the legendary fight commander from the village of Moife. Time an time again, he led his team into neighboring areas to carry out revenge killings.

            “You’ve probably never met a man with so much blood on his hands.

            “Somehow, in his many years of fighting, he escaped the slightest injury. His people, young and old, revered him for his almost magical longevity.

            “But today we know, God wasn’t sparing Sivini for the sake of more dying… He was sparing Sivini for a whole new life – life more abundantly – an extraordinary new assignment… that would bring the life-giving Word of God to the Usarufa people and beyond.

            “It happened like this. The people grow wheat; for decades they have threshed their wheat by hand. A threshing machine would speed things up. So Sivini traveled from Moife to the city of Ukarumpa to arrange transport of the new contraption.

            “But Ukarumpa is also a major Bible translation hub – with 275 translators working out of this center to meet needs throughout the country… 

            “By God’s perfect timing, a Translator’s Training Course (TTC) was under way that same day. With such urgent demand among the people of PNG for the Scriptures in their many languages, every course is filled to capacity. But at the last minute, one man learned he would be unable to attend; someone would have to go in his place.

            “A friend of Sivini’s knew he was in town – grabbed him – told him he could get in – it would be really interesting, he promised – and a blood-thirsty tribal leader found himself learning how to translate the Bible into Usarufa!

            Then, as the group made their way through the tragedy of Cain murdering Abel, translating Genesis 4, Sivini was stunned.

            “Abel’s blood calling out to God from the ground,” he remembers – “the words pierced my heart.” He could almost hear the blood of his many victims calling out to God from the earth where he had so brutally slain them.

            “In that defining moment, Sivini began to feel something he had never felt before: the possibility of cleansing.

            “The very next Sunday, he walked to the front of the local Christian Church to publicly repent of his past. He asked for prayer – he surrendered his life to Jesus Christ – and in that moment, the God of forgiveness and peace lifted Sivini’s burden of guilt.

            “Everything about Sivini is different now. Hatred has turned to love, by the miraculous power of God’s Word!

            “Even my looks have changed since I accepted Jesus,” Sivini says joyfully, “because now I no long carry the weight of the guilt of my past. Who but Jesus could do such a wonderful thing?”

            “Today Sivini is committed to the Usarufa Bible translation, “turning God’s talk into the Usarufa language so that my people can know the Lord. I want them to find peace and freedom and forgiveness of sin, just like I have.”

            In his own words: “I know I cannot continue as the fight leader in my village. Instead, I want to spend my time helping the translation team in turning God’s talk into the Usarufa language….”

            “Please pray for my people that many of them will commit their lives to the Lord. And pray for me that I will remain strong in the Lord and that God will help me and the rest of the team to translate God’s Book into the Usarufa language for our people.”

 

PRAY THAT GOD’S PEACE WOULD REIGN IN THE MIDDLE EAST.