Many Christian scholars and commentators claim that Ishmael, Abraham’s first son, was an illegitimate child. Ishmael was born to him by Hagar, a slave of Abraham’s wife, Sarah. However, what many people fail to realize is that Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to be his wife. Even though Ishmael was Abraham’s first born son and rightful heir, the covenant God wanted to establish with Abraham would be done through his son Isaac, born to him by Sarah. For this reason, Abraham requested that God give Ishmael a blessing. This blessing is not to be confused with a covenant. It was not uncommon in the Bible, for God to choose the younger sibling to establish His covenant with. We see examples of this in the stories of Esau and Jacob, as well as Joseph and his brothers, and we will explore this idea further in this post.
Genesis 16:3 – 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
Genesis 17:15-21 – God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
Through his son, Isaac, God promises Abraham that nations of people will come from Sarah and kings of peoples will come from her.
Hebrews 11:11-12 – And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
These nations are the northern kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. Many kings led these two great nations and their accounts can be found in 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles.
The Edomites, who were also the descendants of Esau, were a nation that had many kings, all of whom came from Sarah through Isaac.
Genesis 36:31 – These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites…
Deuteronomy 2:4-6 – Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. 5 Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own. 6 You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”
Genesis 25:23 – The Lord said to her [Rebecca], “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
These two siblings were Jacob and Esau. While the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob became the nation of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Esau became the nation of the Edomites. The Edomites descend from Sarah, Abraham’s wife, who was the mother of Isaac.
Genesis 36:8 – So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir.
Deuteronomy 2:22 – just as He did for the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them; they dispossessed them and settled in their place, where they remain even to this day.
Joshua 24:4 – and to Isaac, I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his family went down to Egypt.
Continued Genesis 17:17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 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.
This is the promise given to the descendants of Abraham (the first covenant).
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.”
Abraham asked God to bless Ishmael and so God obliged with a separate blessing for Ishmael. God’s blessing for Abraham’s descendants of Ishmael (Ishmaelites, the nation of Islam) was as follows:
Genesis 16:9-16 – The angel of the Lord said to her [Hagar], “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction.12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. 15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
This is the origin of the Islamic nation which comes from Ishmael. They are recognized as being a descendant of Abraham, not a son.
Genesis 21:13 – And of the son of the slave woman I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant.”
Genesis 22:2, 12 & 16 – 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”…12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”…16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son…
The blessing of Ishmael’s descendants is once again a physical one, not a spiritual one. It is a blessing of numerous descendants, twelve kings, and of having a wild and unconquerable nature. All of which, the nation of Islam has received.
The blessing of Ishmael:
Genesis 21:9-21 – Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking Isaac. 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son Isaac!”
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son Ishmael. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and your slave woman; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named. 13 And of the son of the slave woman I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant.”
The nation of Islam was made through a blessing not a covenant.
14 So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.15 When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes.
16 Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “May I not see the boy die!” And she sat opposite him, and raised her voice and wept. 17 God heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.”
Because Ishmael was a descendant of Abraham, he was blessed when Abraham asked God on his behalf.
19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.20 And God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
We must remember that this is a blessing of God which is not to be confused with a covenant/promise, which God made through Isaac.
Genesis 17:20-21 – 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.”
This separate blessing for Ishmael does in no way suggest that there are two separate paths to God. God did not say about the descendants of Ishmael (the nation of Islam), that He would be their God and they would be His people, like he said of Isaac’s descendants.
Genesis 17:7-8 – I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you [Isaac] and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
The descendants of Ishmael merely have received a blessing from God, which has been fulfilled by the numerous descendants, nations and kings all of whom have a wild, unconquerable nature (the nation of Islam).
Genesis 16:12 – But your son will live far from his relatives; he will be like a wild donkey, fighting everyone, and everyone fighting him.”
Another translation says Genesis 16:12 – As a man, he’ll be uncontrollable. He’ll be against everyone, everyone will be against him, and he’ll live in conflict with all of his relatives.”
Genesis 25:18 – The descendants of Ishmael lived in the territory between Havilah and Shur, to the east of Egypt on the way to Assyria. They lived apart from the other descendants of Abraham.
By believing that Islam is another way to God, we are believing in the Quran over the Bible. The Bible never mentions the descendants of Ishmael as God’s people, or of them having a separate covenant from God. They were merely given a blessing. To be a valid religion, you must have a covenant with God, which the nation of Islam does not have. The Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham, have the first covenant. Christians, have the second and final covenant through Jesus, the Messiah and seed of Abraham. Muslims, however, have only received a blessing, not a covenant.
Muhammed capitalized on this moment in the Bible to turn a blessing into a covenant with the nation of Islam.
Daniel 9:27 – He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.
The ‘abomination that causes desolation’ is Islam’s Dome of the Rock mosque. It has been built on the location of the Temple of God. This scripture clearly shows that the ruler to come, will confirm a covenant with many. But this covenant will not be established by God.
Through twisting a blessing into a covenant, the Ishmaelites (nation of Islam) have created an entire invalid religion which contradicts both Judaism and Christianity. As a result, Ishmael’s descendants are living in hostility towards the other descendants of Abraham, the Jews and Christians.
Genesis 16:12 – 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.”
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